Time To Grow Up
by Georgia-Virginia Princess
Summary: Cara Peletier: Sophia's twin, Carol's eldest daughter, Carl's best friend, Daryl's student, and Survivor. She meets and falls for Carl, because of the apocalypse. Will she survive this world? Will her and Carl make it? Can she get Daryl to open up? Read and Review, only if you want too. I don't own the Walking Dead, I only own Cara and some scenes. Rated M for killings and Stuff.
1. Chapter 1

Time to grow up.

Chapter one: Math Mania

Cara Peletier wants her dad gone. Like dead, gone. She knows that she shouldn't want that, but she does. Ed Peletier is an abusive man, to both of his daughters and his wife. Cara has a twin sister, Sophia. They used to be thick as thieves. It wasn't until Cara took a blow meant for Sophia, that their relationship changed.

Cara started to act like a protector, something their mother should have been doing. Sophia didn't want that, she wanted Cara to stop taking the beatings meant for her. One night when the girls where ten, Ed tried to crawl into Sophia's bed. Cara beat him with her softball bat, after that she never played softball again. Cara was black and blue for weeks after that. Carol Peletier, her mother, was upset when she came into the girls' room and saw Cara on the floor.

Cara shook her head and continued on with her 'school' work. Her mother and Lori, a woman they met on the highway, were forcing their kids to study. Cara finds it counterproductive, she should be learning to kill Walkers and hunt. Carl, Lori's son, put his down on the book in front of him.

"You better get back to your work, Carl. You don't want your mom to get mad at you again." Sophia whispers softly, looking away from her book. Sophia has always been the obedient one out of the twins. It made Cara mad.

"But I don't wanna learn. I want to go play." Carl replied, it was muffled but Cara knew what he was saying. To Cara, it looked like Sophia was going to saying something back but she was interrupted by Lori.

"I don't want to hear you complaining, young man. If you complete the page, I'll let you go play." Lori said, ruffling Carl's hair. She had a basket of folded clothes on her hip.

"Same goes for you girls." Carol called to her daughters from the clothes line. Her voice was soft, which wasn't something new for Cara. Cara wants her mother to get a backbone and live her father, for real this time.

"I am done mom." Cara shouts, waving her book in the air.

"Alright, let me check them." Carol hung the last of her husband's clothes before heading over to her eldest daughter. Cara handed over the book eagerly, causing her mother to chuckle softly.

"I didn't get any wrong." Cara states confidently. Carol glanced over the page, seeing that her daughter was telling the truth.

"Okay. Go play, but don't go too far. I want you to be within hearing distance." Carol kissed her head before shooing her off.

"I hear ya, mom!" Cara yelled, running towards Glenn.

Glenn's going on a run for supplies in the city and Cara wanted to ask him to get a couple books for her if he could. Usually, Glenn got what she wanted but she didn't want to put him in danger by asking for too much. She likes Glenn.

"Hey, Glenn!" She yells, causing him to jump.

"Goodness, Cara. You nearly gave me a heart attack." Glenn holds one hand to his chest, while pushing her a little bit.

"Sorry." Her voice was without sympathy.

"So, what do you want?" He knew her to well.

"I was wondering if you could get me a couple of new t-shirts. Ed ripped one of them yesterday and I only have so many." She tugged at the bottom of her shirt. Glenn smiled caringly down at her.

"I'll do my best girly," he patted her head, "how is your tent working out? Has he tried anything yet?"

"Its fine," she sighs, "it's lonely. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy not having to share a tent with him. I just wish my mother would grow a backbone and leave him."

"What do you say to a sleepover when I get back?"

"That sounds great!" Cara smiled up at him brightly, "Now, you better come back."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Glenn chuckled, binding down to kiss her on the forehead.

"Now, go! I want you to back as fast as you can, but be safe." He nods, pulling her into a hug.

"I'll see ya later."

"See ya later." They parted ways. Glenn to his car and Cara to her tent.

 _Stay safe, Glenn._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N The first chapter happened to be third person and there will be other third person chapters, but I do want to add first person chapters in too. Review for the next chapter. ~Georgia-Virginia Princess~**

Time To Grow Up

Chapter 2: You aren't my father.

Cara P.O.V

My tent. My home. My get away.

If the world was normal right now, people might be thinking that I am insane. It isn't much, but it is mine. I am not sharing this tent with my father and I am happy about that. I can't stand him and his abusive ways. I maybe only 12 years old, but I've done a lot living (and reading) in those 12 short years.

With a soft sigh, I lean against the two pillows that I had taken from my home. We were only aloud to pack what was absolutely needed. Nothing more. You see, me and Ed have two different definitions of NEED. I need my pillows or something to prop my head up, because I have neck problems. Those neck problems were caused by him when I was nine.

I think the world we are living now is much better than the world I was living before. I've met some great people. Like Dale. He lets me take watch with him and read the books in his RV. He has a lot of old books, some of them I find very interesting- others not so much. Then there is Glenn. He is like the older brother I always wanted, but never got. I kind glad that he isn't really my brother, so that he didn't have to grow up with my dad. T-Dog is cool. He taught me how to hold my bat right. Yeah, I brought my softball bat. His girl, Jacqui, taught me how to fry fish.

There is an older girl named Amy that taught me how to french braid my hair. That has gotten useful when I am out in the woods with Daryl. When he isn't out with his brother, Merle, Daryl has been teaching me to hunt and track. I think that it is really fun. He told me that one day, he'll teach me to clean my kills too. Last week, Daryl taught me how to throw my knives to kill Walkers and prey. I am really good at it too. He said that he was going to look for a bow and arrow set for me. I have been waiting patiently for him come back with some since he told me of his plans to teach me to shoot.

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

Three taps. That means it is Glenn.

"Hold on!" I shot up, slipping on my sneakers. I tripped over one of my books. "OW!"

"Are you alright in there, Cara?" Glenn asks, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Yeah, _Moby Dick_ got in the way." I reply, unzipping the flap.

"Ha!"

"Not funny."

"Totally funny."

"Not really that funny."

"I brought you something!" He held out a blue bag. I took it from him.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Well, I am going to leave you to your gifts." He smiled brightly, before kissing my forehead and leaving.

I shook my head and zipped the tent door back up. Some times that boy worries me. I set the bag down on my bed, opening it up. Inside Glenn had packed 7 t-shirts, a new pair of shoes, a couple pairs of pants, and 4 books. Then I checked the other pockets and found three pairs of socks. That boy spoils me.

 _AH!_

I know that scream. It is Sophia. I turned and poked my head out of my tent. Sophia was being chased by Carl, who had a snake. A few of the people laughed, while my father scowled. He didn't like fun, especially when it involved his daughters.

I never played with them anyway so he never had a problem with me when it came to having fun. I'd rather read or be out in the woods with Daryl, then play with them. Carl likes Sophia more than me anyway. I turned, grabbing _Moby Dick_ from the floor of my tent. I exited my tent, not forgetting to zip it closed first, before running to the RV.

"Dale!" I yelled, throwing open the door.

"Cara!" He laughed.

"I finished _Moby Dick_."

"What did you think?"

"It was an interesting read. It kind of hurt my brain." He chuckled, taking the book from me.

"Well, it was written for people over the age of 12."

"Thank you for letting me read it."

"Do you need another?"

"No, Glenn got me a couple."

"Did you thank him?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Watch tonight?"

"Sure."

"Bye."

"See ya later, kid."

I exited the RV, looking around for someone to talk too.

"You should be playing with the other children not bothering the adults." I turned around and found Shane leaning against the RV.

"You should mind your own business Welsh." That came harsher than I met for it too, but it worked.

"You best watch your tone with me young lady."

"You don't scare me. Ed is my dad, remember? I've been living with abuse since the day I was brought home from the hospital. I feel nothing anymore. No fear. No pain." I hissed, moving away from him. He grabbed my wrist.

"You should have to deal with that."

"What's done, is done. Now, let go of me or I'll scream."

"Brat." He let go of me. I look at him and softly whisper.

"Asshole." _SMACK._ He smacked me. This jerk just smacked me.

I screamed, which caused people to run over to us. Dale poked his head out of the RV, seeing Shane staring down at me with a hateful look. Then came Glenn. He froze, before pulling me away from Shane.

"What is going on here?" Lori asks, looking over at Shane.

"He hit me." I spat.

"She called me an asshole." He growled, like the animal he is.

"You said what?" My mother breathed, stepping towards me.

"No, I didn't. Shane must be hearing things."

"Don't play, little girl."

"Never said I was."

"If I was your daddy, you'd be so grounded."

" _You aren't my father…"_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I am just going to say that you may not like Cara for the first bit of this chapter. But you might, I don't know. Enjoy and don't forget to Review.**

Time To Grow Up

Chapter 3: Hunting

… _Previously…_

" _You aren't my father…"_

 _…Presently…_

"You aren't my father. And if you were, I would have fed myself to a Walker! Isn't it sad that someone would rather be eaten by a dead thing then be your child?" I shout, leaning towards him.

"Cara Elizabeth! You don't talk like that!" My mother yells, which surprises me.

"And you! Grow a backbone! You sit back and watch as your husband touches your daughters in the most inappropriate way imaginable! How could you stand by and let that happen?" Tears threaten to fall.

"I-I didn't know." She whispers.

"That is a lie! We cried out for you. You've done one good thing for us by living him and taking us away, but then you messed it up by going back to him!"

"Young Lady," My father's gravelly voice calls from behind the crowd, "don't you dare raise your voice like that. I will not stand for it." If this was a few months ago, he'd be plastered with another beer in hand.

"I learned from the best, didn't I? I learned from a man who physically, and verbally abused her and his children." My father walked towards me, his mood the darkest I've seen since this whole thing started.

"Don't use that tone with me-" He moved to hit me, but was stopped by a dirty hand.

"Don't ya dare lay a hand on her asshole." Daryl's southern drawl rang through the crowd. My dad scowled at him.

"What ya gonna do about it, ya hick? You know, she is my kin not yours." Daryl flipped it around so that he had my father in a choke hold.

"I can whole to ya. And I don't care if was my kin or not, I take better care of her then you or your wife do. You only like those who will submit to ya and she doesn't do that to ya like your other one does." Daryl hisses, tightening his grip.

"You don't know me or my family."

"I know enough. Now, this whole thing is done. I want ya to leave her alone. There are other people that can take care of her. And if ya don't leave her alone, ya'll have to deal with me. Got it?"

"…."

"I said got it!" He gripped tighter.

My father just nodded, to which Daryl released him. I moved away from my spot in front of the RV towards where Daryl stood. When I met him, I didn't know why I liked him so much. I just kind of gravitated towards him, like a daughter would do to a father figure. And since I don't have a very good father figure, I guess I subconsciously drifted to him. Him being a man that actually cared about me and taught me to take care of myself.

"All right, that is enough excitement for one day! Everyone back to minding their own business." Dale yells, stepping out of his RV. Everyone grumbled, making their way to their little tents. My mother gripped tightly onto Sophia, following after my father. Sophia looked back at me, looking as if I had just killed a unicorn with a rainbow. I rolled my eyes, looking towards Lori and Carl.

Shane had join them shortly after Dale's order. Shane and Lori were whispering something to Carl. I can tell they were telling him to stay away from me, because I would influence him to bad things like that. If Lori had any sense at all, she would be telling him to stay from Shane. But she is sleeping with him, him being Shane not Carl. That is gross. I only know that they were sleeping together, because I had overheard them one night. I hadn't been able to sleep, so I got up and went to sit outside. My tent is close to Shane's, but not really that close. I saw Lori sneaking into it, which was soon followed by the sounds of her moaning. I had quickly gotten back into my tent and covered my head. I had nightmares for days after that.

"Are you alright, kid?" Daryl's voice caused me to look away from the others.

"I am fine. I've been dealing with my family for 12 years. That was just a lot of pent up aggression. I may have overreacted when my mother stepped into my fight with Shane. But everything I said was true and needed to be said."

"I am proud of ya. It took some real balls to stand up to not only ya old man but Shane as well. I think ya did loss it when ya were dealin' with your mom." He patted my shoulder, leading me towards the woods.

"I think I had a right to yell at her. What I said to her was true too. She did stand by and watch as her husband beat us." I pull my knife from my boot, playing with the tip.

"I know what ya going through kid. I lived it." I nod, looking down at the ground.

I listened to the rustling of the leaves in the wind, turning to the West. I tapped my nose and pointed in the direction that I am facing. Daryl put his hand on my shoulder, pushing me forward. I moved quickly, trying to be silent. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of our feet crushing the fallen leaves and the sound of animal feet hitting the ground. I hope it is a deer, we haven't had deer in a long while. It was a treat when we did get it, because there was a lot more of it. I mean the rabbit and squirrel that Daryl (and sometime me) catch is good, but we need a lot of it to feed the number of people in our group.

I stick my arm out, stopping him. I bend down, watching the beautiful deer drinking from the pond. I look back at Daryl, who was putting an arrow into his bow. He raised up, setting the bow in place. He fired. The arrow lodged itself into the deer's neck. The deer fell into the pond, causing Daryl to push through the bushes that we were hiding behind. Handing his bow to me, Daryl picked up the deer. He carried the dead animal on his shoulders all the way back to the camp.

Once we were back at the camp, Daryl taught me how to skin and clean the deer. It is a gross process, but a necessary one these days. Daryl and I cooked the meat, cutting it into piece to make sure that everyone had a good bit of it. My mother came to help us pass it out, along with Lori of course. My sister was sitting next to Carl, neither of them looking at me. Glenn and Dale smiled as I handed them their food, before going back to their conversation about the RV. Daryl went to sit with his brother, who I did not like. Everyone was eating and chatting amongst themselves, so I went and ate in my tent. A 12 year old outcast, so 2009. I think.

The only good thing about today was the _hunting._


	4. Chapter 4

Time To Grow Up

Chapter 4: Runs and Run-Ins

…Cara's POV…

…A Month Later…

It has been like two months since the world ended, I think it is August, but I am not sure. It feels like August. Since the fight, Carol and Ed haven't been letting me talk to Sophia. It is incredibly difficult to not talk to her.

We are twins, fraternal twins-but twins nonetheless. Sophia has our mother's blond hair, while I have our father's dark hair. Sophia has our mother's blue eye and I have brown, like our father. Sophia is flat chested, whereas I have little boobs. I guess puberty hit me in certain aspects before they did her. We are both tall for our age, but I have a more athletic build then she does. She is innocent and I am not. When we were in school, she wore dresses and I wore jeans. We are different. And not just in the looks department. Our personalities are different too.

Sophia is the embodiment of innocence and purity. She looks like that too. I protected her from a lot of the violence that was brought upon us as young children. That is what protected her innocence and purity, nothing else. She is the type of girl that likes to make friends and act ladylike. She doesn't talk back or stands up for herself, she sits on the sidelines (like our mother) while someone else (most likely me) does it for her. She used to all her homework and more. She is shy and quiet. I am afraid that this world will be too much for her and she won't make it.

Me? I am the embodiment of anger and maturity. I look innocent and kind- which I can be- but I am not always. I never had anybody to fight for me, I've always had to do it myself. Nobody protected me. I am the type of girl that likes to be out in the woods learning to survive. I never liked homework or doing more than what was expected, but I still got good grades. I can be loud and I can get in people's faces. I am afraid that this world will change me and I won't like who I will become.

Before the world ended, Sophia and I were close. Now, we can't even talk without one of our parents dragging her away from me. I've heard them- and by them I mean my father- tell her that I am a bad influence and I'll only cause her pain. That hurt.

Now, I spend a lot of time with Daryl and Glenn. Sometimes, I hang out with Dale. He has been teaching Glenn and I about the RV. How to fix it and other things. It has been an interesting experience. In the last two weeks, Daryl has been real distant- which bugs me.

Then there is Carl. When I was a loud to talk to Carl, we got a long great. I thought he was my best friend, but after I yelled at Shane I haven't been able to talk to him. I see him looking at me sometimes, like at dinner or when I am reading on top of the RV. Which is where I am right now.

I am reading a book about fishing on top of the RV with Dale. I am supposed to be helping him keep watch, but that boring. So, I grabbed a book from the box in the RV.

"Hey, Car! (Pronounced like Care)" A voice yelled, causing me to look away from the book.

"Yeah?" I ask, leaning over the side of the RV. It was Glenn.

"I am about to go on a Run. Can I get a hug for luck?" His smile was cheeky and broad.

"Sure." I nodded, moving towards the latter. I jumped down when I reached the last step. Glenn pulled me into a hug, holding on tight. I wrapped my arms around him. "Stay safe."

"I always am, kiddo." He whispers, pulling away from me.

"I know." He patted my head before walking away.

…A Month Later (So September)…

About a week after that run, Glenn and I were talking. It was random at first, then it got serious. He asked me if I regretted getting into fights with my parents and Shane. I told that I regretted yelling at my mom and Shane- only a little bit- but never my father. He told me that I should go talk to them, them being Shane and mother, so I did.

I talked to my mother first. We were washing laundry together down at the lake. She apologized for never standing up for me and Sophia. She said she wished to go back in time and do that. I believe her. So, our relationship is on the up and up. I get to talk to my sister now, but only when Ed isn't around. We are closer now than ever before. I have been teaching her some ways to protect herself, not only from our father but from Walkers too. She is still a little hesitant to do either of those things.

Then I talked to Shane. I apologized. I told him that I have a lot of pent up aggression, because of the things that I have had to deal with in my life. I told him that I lash out when things get difficult for me. I had to tell him about this one time I lashed out and broke a kid's nose. He laugh and told me that he understood. He apologized for hitting me. I accepted. Now, I can hang out with Carl. I was excited. I haven't taught him anything, because Lori has been keeping a close watch on us when we are together.

Me apologizing to Shane doesn't stop me from thinking he is creepy. I still think that he is going to go crazy one day.

I haven't talked to Daryl in a month. He has been avoiding me, as if I had the plague. He is supposed to be my best friend, my protector, and he left me. He didn't actually leave, he just stopped talking to me. I have tried to talk to him, but he just pushes me away. Sometimes, he literally pushes me away from him. I slapped him that time before running away from him. I haven't tried to talk to him since then.

Just like a month ago, I am sitting on top of the RV. Unlike a month ago, I am not reading. I am actually writing in a journal. It is mostly filled with a calendar. Glenn found me a calendar when he went on a run two weeks ago. Whoever had this calendar marked off the days as they came, which made it easier. I have been keeping count of the number of days we've been out here, so I marked off the appropriate number of days. After that I began to make a calendar in the notebook, starting on January 1st. I realized that Sophia and I's birthday was several months away.

"Hey, Cara!" Carl's little voice called from below me.

"Hey, Carl!" I yelled back, looking away from the notebook.

"What are you doing up there?"

"Making a calendar."

"Why?"

"To keep track."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Cool. Do you wanna play?"

I paused. Dale nudges my foot, nodding at me to go.

"Sure." I climbed down that latter, glaring at Dale as I went. All he did was chuckle.

"Sweet."

"What do you want to play?"

"Amy gave me some cards. We can play _Gold Fish_."

"That sounds fun."

We sat down at the picnic table and played. We played for hours, Sophia joined in too.

…Two Weeks Later…

Daryl is on a hunt. Glenn is on a run with T-Dog, Merle, Morales, Jacqui, and Andrea. And I am stuck here. The last week has been hard. My father has been walking by me, muttering inappropriate comments. I don't say anything, because I don't want to start a fight. I have been trying to work on my anger issues. I've been helping out a lot more with the laundry and cooking. I can point out the good mushrooms and berries (thanks to Daryl). I have found some wild herbs that have helped season the food, so that it isn't bland.

"Do you want to go look for mushrooms and berries?" I ask Amy.

"Sure." She nodded, leaving to grab the bucket.

I went to my tent and grabbed my knife. When Daryl was actually talking to me, he told me to never go anywhere without my knife.

" _Kid, I'ma tell ya once. Never go anywhere without ya knife. If ya do and I find out, I'll skin ya with it. Got it?"_

Good times. Good times that will never happen again.

"Come on, Cara. We have to hurry. Andrea is going to be pissed, if she gets back and I am not around. You know, Glenn is gonna be the same way if you aren't here."

"True!" We both laugh, heading into the woods.

We spent twenty minutes looking around for the right berries. We found some raspberries and blackberries. Then another twenty minutes trying to go to the bathroom in the woods without peeing on ourselves. That was a funny experience, which ended in us laying on the forest ground laughing our butts off. It took us ten minutes to be able to look at each other and not laugh. Add on another ten minutes to catch our breath. When we were able to breathe correctly, we left to look for the mushrooms. We grabbed as many as we could before heading back.

On the way back, we heard rustling and a low squeal. I looked at Amy with wide eyes, her face matched mine. We peaked through a bush, seeing Shane and Lori on the ground. I back up quickly, running deep into the woods. I could hear Amy coming up behind me. I cut to the right, then headed back towards the camp. Daryl taught me the area all around the camp, so I know it pretty well. We went separate ways once we got back to camp.

I slipped into my tent. I removed the dirty button down, replacing it with a black tank top. My shorts went next, only to have a pair of tight fitting jeans replace them. I brushed my hair, pulling it up into a ponytail. The dark curls fell over my shoulder as I slipped on my tennis shoes. My skin tan from spending so much time outside and my natural skin tone. I got my dad's tan coloring when the parental traits were being passed out in the womb. Sophia is as pale as a ghost, like our mother.

"Someone is coming!" I heard Dale yell, then the sound of a car alarm. I exited my tent, heading towards the crowd.

Glenn popped out of the car, a bright smile on his face. Shane ran up, forcing his way through the crowd.

"Turn the damn alarm off!"

"I don't know how!" Glenn panicked, as Shane ran forward. He popped the hood and pulled at some wires. The car stopped making that loud noises.

"What the hell were you thinking? You just led every Walker from here to Atlanta to us! You rang the dinner bell. We're all dead now and it is all your fault." Shane yells, getting into Glenn's face.

"I-I didn't. I drove around for a long time before coming back here. They don't know where we are. I swear."

"You piece-" Shane started.

"Where is Andrea?" Amy asks, walking forward, "Where is everyone?" She looked about ready to cry.

"They were right behind me. We got stuck in the building we were searching. A man came shooting up the place. Atlanta, not the building. I-"

"What?!" She shouted, I grabbed her hand.

"I went and got the guy, then Dixon started shooting. That brought even more geeks down on us.-" A box truck pulled up, causing him to stop.

"They're back!"

Everyone from the Run group came walking towards us. Everyone but Merle. _Shit._ Daryl is gonna be so angry. The Run group members, went to their families. I ran up to Glenn, hugging him tight.

"How did you all get out, if you were surrounded?"

"Helicopter dude. He used dead geek guts to get him and Glenn to the Box trucks. Glenn got the car with the alarm and drove by, which distracted the geeks. We all were down on the lower level waiting for him to show. When he did, we came back as fast we could." Morales replied, hugging his wife.

Carl looked at me. _'Helicopter dude?'_ He mouthed. I just shrugged.

"Helicopter Dude come on out!" T-dog yelled, looking towards Shane. "He is a cop like you."

The man walked out from behind the truck. He looked around the group before locking eyes with Lori and Carl.

"Dad?" Carl whispers, pulling away from his mom.

"Carl?" The man whispers, looking about to cry.

"DAD!" Carl ran forward.

"CARL!" The man does the same. They met in the middle. Carl tackles his father into a hug.

"Rick." Lori finally reacts. She joins in on the hug.

I look over at Shane. He looked like his brain was going to explode. His face was getting red, I don't know if that is because he is glad that his friend is alive or if he is angry that his friend is alive. I am thinking it is the latter one. I look away from them and focus my gaze on Glenn.

"What happen to Merle?" I ask, pulling on my ponytail.

"He was- He was shooting up the place. Acting like Rambo. He started something with T-dog and Rick knocked on his ass. While he was out, Rick handcuffed him to a pole on the top of the buildin'. When it was time to go, I dropped the key down a pipe. I couldn't get it, so I chained the door shut. And I left. I-I could do anything." T-dog explained, looking down.

"What are ya'll going to tell Daryl?"

" _I don't know."_

 **A/N Hey! I hope you like this chapter. I did a lot of time skip this chapter. There was a lot of character development with Cara this chapter. She is trying to get rid of all the anger within her.**

 **Someone reviewed! That is AMAZING! I was so happy! I want to thank silverfoxkurama for the lovely review! She asked me what Cara looked like. I picture her looking like Rowan Blanchard from Girl Meets World. She looks more like her dad then she does her mom. She may look innocent and weak, but she has a big personality.**

 **Please Review some more!**

 **Thank you, dolls.**

 **G-V Princess**


	5. Chapter 5

Time To Grow Up

Chapter 5: Hell No!

…Cara's POV…

…Later That Night…

We were all eating around the fire. I sat next to Glenn, while Rick tried to explain what it was like waking up in the hospital.

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest, disoriented. Fear, confusion. All of those things, but disoriented comes the closest." He leaned into Lori.

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short." Dale spoke, taking a sip of his water.

"I felt like I was ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream. Something I might not wake up from."

"Mom said you died." Carl said.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it." Rick wrapped his arm around him.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that there were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, but that never happened." Lori added.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick replied.

"Yeah." She mumbled.

"And from the looks of it, the hospital must have gotten overrun."

"Looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?" Shane said, pointing his chin towards Lori and Carl.

"And I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it."

"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." Dale said.

On the other side of the large, was my family. Ed didn't like sitting with the group, so we built our own fire. It isn't mine anymore, because I am not family anymore. But I digress. Ed put another log on his fire.

"Hey Ed, you want to rethink that log." Shane asks.

"It's cold, man." He replied.

"The cold doesn't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once." Shane got up, heading towards my family. I shot up with him.

"Shane stop." I pleaded.

"Hey Ed. You sure you want to have this conversation, man?"

"Shane stop. It isn't worth it." I tried to get in front of him.

"Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" My mom went to pull the log out, but I stopped her. I snatched the log out, tossing it on the ground trying not burn my fingers. Sophia just watched from her place next to Ed.

"Christ." Shane shouted, stomping out the flames, "Hey Carol, Sophia, How are y'all this evening?"

"Fine. We're just fine." She whispered.

"Yeah, right." I muttered, going back to my spot. Glenn grabbed my hands, wiping off the char with his napkin.

"Okay."

"I am sorry about the fire." She apologized, acting like it was her fault.

"No no no no. No apology needed. Y'all have a goodnight, okay?"

"Thank you."

"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane then rejoined the group.

"I am going to bed." I stood up, putting the plate in the bin. Glenn stood, "No need to follow. Goodnight all." I left.

Going to my tent, I got a weird feeling that things weren't going to be peaceful for every much longer. I changed into a loose t-shirt and pajama short, leaving my clothes in a pile to be washed in a couple of days. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The mummers of the group was my lullaby.

…The Next Day…

I was sitting at the table with Sophia and Carl. I was writing in a journal that Glenn got me, while they were working on some school stuff. Daryl still wasn't back. It usually took him a day to day and a half to get a good amount of food. He must be taking something big, like a dear. I looked up as Rick approached us.

"Morning." My mom called to Rick.

"Morning." He called back.

"They are still a little damp. The sun'll have them dry in no time." She said, hanging them up.

"You washed my clothes?"

"Well, best we could. Scrubbing on a washboard with a little soap ain't half as good as my old Maytag."

"That is very kind. Thank you." Rick left, approaching an upset Glenn. I went back to my writing.

We worked a little bit longer before Carl and Sophia got bored. Carl nudged my foot, making me look up at him.

"Come play with us, Cara. **(A/N All I can think about is the twins from the Shining** _ **"Come play with us.. Forever."**_ **It creeps me out.)** It will be fun!" He smiles brightly. My face heated up.

"Alright." I smiled back.

"Mom! Sophia, Cara, and I are gonna go play." He yelled.

"Okay, stay within yellin' distance!" She yelled back, looking away from the laundry.

"Same goes for you, Cara and Sophia."

"Alright, mom!" We all yelled, racing off towards the woods.

We chased each other around the camp and a little bit in the woods, playing tag. We played for like twenty minutes before Carl got it and came after me. I ran farther into the woods then they had been a loud to go. I heard growling and stopped, causing Carl to run into me. I froze watching the geek attach its mouth with the innocent deer. Sophia came up next to, trying to see what made us stopped. I guess the sight was too much for her and Carl, because they both screamed. They were loud. The walker didn't even look up at us, it just kept eating. The sound of hurried footsteps pulled me from my frozen state.

"DAD!" Carl yelled, running towards his mother.

"BABY!" Lori yelled, pulling him closer to her.

"SOPHIA! CARA!" Our mother yelled, not too far behind Lori.

"MOM!" Sophia yelled, embracing our mother. I just backed up, not wanting to embrace anybody.

"CARL!" Rick yelled. He was holding a medal poll.

The group moved towards the walker, mostly the men, beating it with the random objects they were wielding. Dale came in swinging, causing the others to step away. He hit the head, sending it flying. The body slumped forward, laying in the open belly of the deer. Dale looked at it bewildered.

"That is the first one we've had come up here. They've never come this far up the mountain." He said, leaning against his bat.

"Well, they're runnin' out of food in the city, that's what." Jim said, moving away from the scene. The rustle of the trees caused everyone to jump into action mode, standing with their weapons at the ready.

Daryl came out of the trees, grumbling about the deer. He and Shane gave each other a look, causing Shane to lower his gun. A look of rage took over his face as he laid eyes on the decapitated walker leaning into the deer.

"Oh, Jesus." Dale breathed, watching Daryl ripe the corpse away from the deer.

"Son of a bitch! That's my deer! Look at it. A gnawed on by this," He started to kick the corpse, "filthy, disease-bearing, motherless bastard!" Dale stepped up.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Daryl came at him.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to the 'old golden pond'? I have been tracking this deer for miles ( _'I knew he was after something good' I thought.)_ " He took the bolt from the deer, something I hadn't noticed. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do ya think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He pointed at the neck.

"I wouldn't risk it." Shane stated. Daryl sighed, brushing his hands off on his pants.

"That is a damn shame. I got some squirrel, about a dozen of 'em or so. That'll have to do." Daryl said. Suddenly the head starting moving towards Amy, causing her to scream.

"Oh my god!" She yelled, backing away from it. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on people! What the hell?" Daryl went to shoot it, but I stuck my knife into it, "Thanks. It's gotta be the brain," He took my knife out, wiping the blood on a leaf, "Don't ya know nothin'?" He handed it to me as he walked passed.

"Way to go, Cara." Glenn whispered, patting my shoulder. We all followed Daryl back towards camp.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up!"

"Daryl! Just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane said. _Oh brother. This will totally go over well. Not._

"About what?"

"About Merle. There was a… There was a problem in Atlanta."

"He dead?"

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!"

"No easy way to say this," Rick started, but I cut him off.

"I can think of a way." Rick ignored me.

"So, I'll just say it." He continues.

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, you got somethin' you wasn't to tell me?" By this time, we were in camp standing near the RV. I moved away from them, making my way towards the latter.

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him to a roof. I hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." I climbed up, sitting on the edge. Mom and Lori were holding onto Carl and Sophia.

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?" His face was getting red. His breathing got real heavy, he was trying to control himself.

"Yeah." That sent Daryl over the edge. Throwing the squirrel at Rick, Daryl went in to attack him. Shane pushed him off. Daryl pulled out his knife.

"Hey! Watch the knife!" T-dog yelled. Daryl moved towards Rick, but Shane came up behind and put him into a choke hold.

"Okay. Okay." Shane tries to sound calm.

"You best let me go!"

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't."

"Choke hold's illegal," His breathing got heavier.

"You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asks, sounding calm.

"Hmm?" Shane echoes.

"Mmm, yeah." Shane let Daryl go.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work or play well with others." Rick stated.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." T-dog inserted. _Bright idea. Tell the angry redneck that you were the one with the key that could unlock his brother. That is the fastest way to get your butt kicked._

"Ya couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asks, moving his intense gaze to T-dog.

"I dropped it down in a drain."

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." He said, looking down at his feet.

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof. So the geeks couldn't get at him. I locked it with a padlock."

"That's gotta count for something." Rick says.

"Not likely." I muttered, Daryl looked up at me.

"Hell with y'all! Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him."

"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Lori inserted.

 _Really, Lori? You gotta open your big slutty trap._ **(A/N I know rude, but that is Cara's personality. Deal with it. She is abused child, anger is her release.)** _This has nothing to do with you, so mind your own damn business._

"I'm going back," Rick states. Lori moved towards the RV, while Daryl stalked away towards his tent.

I jumped off of the top of the RV, rolling onto my back. Everyone gasped, my mom moved towards me. I held up my hand, signaling her not to come any closer. I got up and went after Daryl. He was just zipping his tent, when I caught sight of him again. He is most likely changing, so I wait out front of his tent.

"Daryl?"

"What?"

"I am sorry about your brother." I state, looking down at my hands.

"Why ya sorry? Ya had nothin' to do with it."

"I just am okay!" I snap.

"Whoa! What's yar problem kid?"

"You!" I yell, "You don't talk to me for a month and a half, and I don't know why. I don't know what I did to make ya hate me, but I hate it!"

"I ain't made at ya kid." He states simply, exiting his tent.

"Then why did ya ignore me for so long? There must ya been a reason."

"I was gettin' attached. Can't get attached." His scowl deepened.

"I ain't going anywhere, so you can get attached."

"YA DON'T KNOW THAT! If I get attached to ya, then ya'd get attached to me. If I die, then you'd hurt. If ya died, then I'd hurt. It is best not to get attached!"

"People died every day before this shit happened. Did that stop you? I bet not. We are in this together. I don't got anybody else right now."

"Ya got Glenn, yar momma, yar sister, even Carl. That ain't nobody."

"Glenn doesn't understand me. My mom and Sophia are stuck with Ed. He took them from me. If it wasn't for you and the world going to hell, he would have gotten me too. I was close to ending it all, before the outbreak. I wanted to die, because of all the pain I was feelin', then you come a long. You taught me to survive, not only in woods or on my own but in life." I took a deep breath before continuing, "I needed ya and ya left me. I am falling back into that hole and I need somethin' to pull me back up."

"I'm not good, Cara. I have done bad things."

"You haven't done bad towards me and that is the only thing that matters to me, nothing else."

"It should!"

"But it doesn't!"

"What do ya know, ya are just a kid? Barely able ta do anythin', but wipe ya own ass. I want ya to leave me the hell alone! I don't want ya in my life! I don't need ya! I don't need anybody, but my brother." He snapped, causing my heart to break.

"Fine. If that is want ya really think, I'll leave ya alone." I turned away from him. Tears fell as made my way over to my tent. If he didn't want me in his life, then I wouldn't be in his life.

I made my way into my tent, falling onto my bed. I buried my face into my pillow, wanting it to suffocate me. I laid like that for a good ten minutes, before Glenn knocked on the tent wall.

"Hey, we are about to head out. Do you want to come see us off?" He asks sweetly. I sigh, pushing myself off of my bed.

"Sure." I replied quietly, wiping way some stray tears.

"Sweet!" He smiled brightly, wrapping his arm around my neck. He led me to the cube truck that they brought back yesterday. Rick and T-Dog were sitting in the front, waiting for Glenn and Daryl.

"Be safe, okay? No, doing crazy shit like last time." I said, looking up at Glenn.

"I will, but you gotta watch your mouth. No using grown-up language." He replied, scolding me for my usage of 'grown-up language'.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes, nudging him towards the truck, "You better go. Don't want them to leave you behind, do ya?"

"Nope." He chuckled, leaning down to kiss the top of my head, " See ya, when we get back. Don't start something without me here. I wanna watch." I laugh.

"Alright. Now go!" I pushed him towards the truck. He laughed, running towards the truck. He jumped in, only to look back at me and shout:

"Love ya!"

Daryl scowled, gripping the door. _Hmm, I didn't see him there before. Must have snuck passed me._

"Love ya too, Glenn! Be safe!" He nodded, just as Daryl shut the door. Rick started the truck, backing out of the spot. I stood there, watching them go. By the time I looked away, they were so far out of sight and Carl came up next to me.

"Are you alright?"

" _Hell no."_

 **A/N Hey!**

 **I hope the little author notes in the story are alright! I just hand to add my two cents.**

 **Well, to the lovely guest that reviewed. They did talk, but I bet it didn't turn out the way you wanted it too. I just want to say that I am sorry. I don't think that everything would go back to normal after him distancing himself from her. They are both very stubborn people that have had to deal with a lot of pain in their life. But don't fret! Their relationship will be on the mend soon, I don't know when but it will be, I promise. Oh! Thank you for reviewing!**

 **I would have written more, but I have to go to bed early tonight. Mind you that it is 12:44 AM where I am now and that is early for me. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, like 9 AM morning. I wanted to post something tonight, so here you are!**

 **I can't think of any ship names for Cara and Carl, if you got anything let me know! I am open to anything.**

 **Please review! It means a lot to me! I love hearing your feedback and comments!**

 **Night/Morning!**

 **G-V Princess.**


	6. Chapter 6

Time To Grow Up

Chapter 6: Fish Fry/ Goodbye Daddy

…Last Chapter…

" _Are you alright?"_

" _Hell no."_

…Cara's POV…

…The Lake…

Later in the day, a few members of the group went down to the lake. Carl and I got to go too. Carl went with Shane, while I went with Amy and Andrea. We were helping my mom, Lori, and Jacqui with the laundry. I just sat on the side, trying to ring as much water as I could. It won't take that long to dry, if we get a lot of the water out of the clothes now. I guess Sophia stayed at the camp, because I didn't see her around the lake. We worked silently for a bit before the other girls started to get bored of the silences. I could hear Carl and Shane laughing, while trying to get ahold of the frogs.

"I'm beginning to question the division of labor here." Jacqui said, moving towards Andrea, "Can some explain to me how the wound up doing all of the Hattie McDaniel work?"

"The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?" Amy asks, causing me to laugh. I could feel Ed staring at us.

"It's just the way it is." My mom states, "I do miss my Maytag."

"I miss my Benz, my SAT Nav." Andrea countered.

"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey." Jacqui laughed.

"I miss my computer... And texting." Amy giggled.

"I miss TV. I miss watching my favorite TV shows, one of them left off on a cliffhanger." I state, throwing a shirt into the closest basket.

"I miss my vibrator." Andrea stated, not looking at any of the other girls. I squealed, trying to cover my ears.

"Careful! There is a child present!" I exclaimed, falling over. Everyone else just laughed.

"Oh!" Jacqui says, bursting into a fit of laughter.

"On my God." Amy breathes.

"Me too." My mom mutters. I scream a little bit. The others just continued to laugh.

"I didn't need to know that, you all are killing me! I can feel it." I ranted.

"What's so funny?" Ed asks, walking towards us.

"Just swapping war stories, Ed." Andrea stated, handing me a pair of shorts.

"Yeah." Amy echoed.

"Problem, Ed?"

"Nothin' that concerns you. And you ought to focus on you work. This ain't no comedy club." We tried to go back to doing our chores, but Andrea wanted to start something with him.

"Ed, tell ya what... you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. So, here." She tosses a shirt at him, which caused him to throw it right back.

"Oh." She squealed, catching the shirt.

"It ain't my job." He retorted.

"Andrea don't." My mother says.

"Oh please Andrea, do it." I mutter.

"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?"

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity, smart-mouth bitch. Tell ya what... Come on. Let's go." He motions for my mother and I to follow him.

"I am not coming with you," I said, "Don't you get that I don't want anything to do with you. I can't stand you. If you were eaten by walkers, I wouldn't miss you."

"Fine, forget you. Come on Carol."

"She doesn't have to go, Ed. You're not the boss of her." Lori states, standing in front of my mom.

"And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me." My mom moves towards him, but I reach out and grab her hand.

"Mom."

"Cara, please. Just let me go, it doesn't matter.'

"Hey, don't think that I won't knock you on your little ass just 'cause you my daughter and you are close to that redneck trash," I tense, "Now you come on or you gunna regret it later." He said, turning to my mom.

"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've all seen them." Jacqui said. Ed laughed, causing Shane to look over at us.

"Stay out of this, bitch. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on."

"No. No." Andrea and I said.

"Carol, you don't..." Amy starts.

"Mom, you don't have..." I tried.

"You don't tell me what to do! I tell you what to do!" Ed yelled, suddenly slapping my mother, "You think you can..." The other girls started to move towards my mother, trying to protect her and hold him off. But my father is too big for him, so none of them could hold him off you long. I tightened my grip on her hand, as he grabbed ahold of her other arm.

"Get off of her!" I yell, trying to pull her away from him.

"I said come on!" He pulled her too.

"Get off of her! Get off! Get off! Get off." I chanted, trying to kick him. He reached over and hit me. I screamed, falling backwards and landing on the rocks. The fall had caused my ankle to twist in a weird way. If you listened close enough, you would have been able to hear it pop.

I screamed out in pain, which caused everyone to look my way. I guess Shane took that as a sign to finally intervene. Shane came running over, grabbing ahold of Ed as he pushed my mother to the ground.

"Get off of me!" He screamed, trying to pull away from Shane. My mother back away from them, kind of backing into me. Amy and Andrea squatted down next to me. Shane threw Ed onto the ground. He got down on the ground next to him and started to pound his fist into Ed's face.

"It's okay. It's okay." Amy said to my mom, as Andrea was checking my ankle. Jacqui came over and looked at my face. A nice bruise was forming on my left cheek. Shane just kept slamming his fist into Ed's face. We all just froze, watching in horror as blood formed on Ed's face.

"Shane, stop! Just stop!" Andrea shouted.

"Stop it! Stop!" Shane ripped Ed off of the ground.

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girls, or anybody else in this camp inappropriate one more time, and I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!"

"Yeah!"

"I'll beat you to death, Ed."

"Ed!" My mom sobbed.

"I'll beat you to death." Shane said to him, before he hit him one more time then kicking him in the gut. Ed fell to the ground and my mother ran forward, trying to comfort him.

"Oh God! No. God!" She sobbed louder, kneeling over him, "Ed. I'm sorry. Oh my God. Ed I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ed. Ed, I am sorry. I'm sorry, Ed." The other girls just stood there in shock, they didn't know what to do or say.

"You are pathetic, mom," I hiss, "You go to him when he is hurt, but I am over here on the ground with a messed up ankle that he caused and you do nothing." The distain I once had for her (that did go away), is now back with a vengeance.

I did try to pick myself off of the ground, but it didn't go well. I just ended up back on the ground with my ankle hurting even worse. It took Amy, Andrea, and Jacqui to get me into the car. Jacqui and I left the sisters at the lake to fish. My mom had gotten Ed into the Cherokee, so that she could fix him up back at camp. Lori rode with Shane and Carl back to camp. Carl had been watching me, when the girls put me in the car.

"How does your ankle feel, Cara?" Jacqui asks, pulling away from the lake.

"I can feel my ankle starting to swell and bruise. It hurts really badly, but I have had worse. When I was 9, Ed got angry at me for eating the last chocolate chip cookie and broke my arm. When I went to the hospital, he told them that I fell out of the tree in our backyard. They never bothered to ask me if what he said was true or not."

"That is awful!"

"I know." The rest of the car ride was silent.

When we got back, she went and got Dale. He carried me to the RV, where he wrapped my ankle in an old ACE bandage. He gave me a pillow and took me back outside. I had him set me down on the picnic table. He patted my head and told me to yell for him if I needed anything.

…Two Hours Later…

I have been sitting at the picnic table for two hours and my butt has fallen asleep. It is all numb and it hurts. I have tried to get Dale's attention, but he has been doing all kinds of things for other people. Carl and Sophia had come to talk to me for a little bit, but got called away by Lori. My mother has been attending to Ed's every demand. Not like that is unusual, but she hasn't even stopped by on her way to fulfil his orders.

I've spent the last two hours watching people, which gets boring after a while. Plus no one was doing anything that interesting, except Jim he seemed to be digging holes. I don't know why, but he hasn't stopped or taken any breaks. He is all red, which worries me because it is really hot out today. Amy and Andrea haven't returned from the lake yet.

"We're back!" Amy yells, leaning out of the car window. I guess I spoke too soon. Andrea chuckled, putting the car in park.

"We got a lot of fish!" Andrea exclaimed, grabbing the buckets from the backseat.

"Oh baby, will you look at that? Hey, check it out." Morales laughs, grinning like a foul. Andrea handed him some of the fish, "Ladies... because of you, my children will eat tonight. Thank you."

"Thank Dale, it is his Canoe and gear." Amy says, brushing off his gratefulness,

"Mom, look. Look at all the fish." Carl bellowed, pointing to the bucket.

"I see," She laughed, turning to Amy and Andrea, "Thank you."

"Whoa." Shane says.

"Yeah, whoa. Where did you two learn to do that?" Lori asks.

"Our dad." Amy answered.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Carl asks.

"I know how to fish too." I mumble.

"Sure. I'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff. If that is okay?" Amy asks, looking at Lori.

"You won't catch me arguing."

"Hey, Dale. When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace." She laughs.

"I, uh, I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem." He said, looking towards Jim. Shane came up next to him, causing Dale to point over to Jim (who was still digging the holes).

…

I tried to hobble after the rest of the group as they walked towards Jim. They were trying to careful, so that they didn't startle him. It was like they were trying approach a bear or something and they didn't want to spook him.

"Hey, Jim. Jim, why don't you hold up, alright? Just give me a second here, please." Shane asks, walking towards him slowly. I leaned against the ladder in the RV.

"What do you want?" Jim asks, dumping more dirt into the pile next to his hole.

"We're all just a little concerned, that's all." Shane said.

"Well, not so concerned to realize that he has been digging those holes for the last two hours," I mutter, causing Morales to look back at me, "what? I was watching him. It's not like I had anything better to do."

"Dale says you've been out here for hours." Morales states.

"No, I am pretty sure that I just said that." I reply. Morales glares back at me.

"So?" Jim asks, leaning against his shovel.

"So, why are you digging? Are you heading to China, Jim?" Shane asks, walking a bit closer.

"A person can't dig to China." I pointed out.

"Shut up, Cara." Shane hissed back at me.

"What does it matter? I'm not hurting anyone."

"Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today. You can't keep this up."

"Sure I can. Watch me."

"Ji,. They're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people. You're scaring my son and Carol's girls." Lori said.

"I am not scared of Jim or what he is doing." I butted in.

"Thank you, Cara. They got nothing to be scared of. I mean, what the hell people? I'm out here by myself. Why don't you al just go and leave me the hell alone?" Jim was getting frustrated.

"We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe. I'll tell you what... maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and hand me that shovel?"

"Or what?"

"There is no or what. I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you."

"And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you? Y'all seen his face, huh? What's eft of it. See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you."

"That was different Jim." Shane protested.

"Yeah, Shane's right. Ed hit me, causing me to fall and mess up my ankle real bad. He was going to take my mother and mostly hit her. He was also causing trouble with the ladies doing the laundry. You have no idea what it was like, because you weren't there" I stated.

"Cara's right, you weren't there. Ed was out of control. He hurt Cara and he was going to hurt Carol." Amy says, backing me up.

"That is their marriage. That is not his. He is not judge and jury. Who voted you king boss, huh?"

"Did you hear me? He hurt Cara, you know his 12 year old daughter." Amy said, a frown etched itself onto her face, "She is his family and he still struck her." Jim glared at her.

"Jim, I'm not here to argue with you, alright? Just give me the shovel, okay?"

"No, no, no."

"Just give me the... Jim!" Jim shoved Shane away then threatened to hit him with it. Shane tackled Jim to the ground, "Okay, shh shh."

"You got no right!"

"Stop. Shhhhhhh."

"You got no right." Jim tried to fight back against Shane.

"Jim, just stop it. Hey, hey, hey, hey."

"Don't!"

"Jim. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you. You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?"

"That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 100 times, it didn't matter. They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands. You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family."

I turned away from the group and pulled myself up the latter. It took me like ten minutes to climb up the latter, because I had to pull myself up and jump at the same. I kept slipping and falling down a little bit. When I finally got onto the top of it, I was out of breath and the group had disbanded. I crawled over to the chair that was there for whoever was on watch. I watched Shane tie Jim to a tree. I think that Shane is the one that has lost his mind, if he thinks that tying Jim to a tree is a good idea. It is really stupid, if you ask me.

I heard Shane tell Jim that he (Shane) was tying him (Jim) to a tree to protect him from himself. Then Shane went and got the bucket of clean water Lori had brought back after the laundry trip. Shane gave him a drink of the water and poured some on his head.

"Cooling you down, huh? Shane asks.

"Yeah. How long you gonna keep me like this?" Jim asks.

"Well, yeah. Until I don't think that you're a danger to you're or the others." Shane replied. Lori and my mom were teaching Sophia and Carl at the table nearby.

"Sorry, if I scared your boy and your little girls." Jim told Lori and my mom, who were teaching.

"How many times do I have to tell you people, I wasn't scared?" I snorted, rolling my eyes. Nobody heard me and if they did, well they ignored me.

"You had sunstroke." Lori spoke softly, patting his shoulder, "Nobody's blaming you."

"Not what it sounded like earlier." I whispered, picking at the end of my navy shorts.

"'You're not scared now, are you?" Jim asks, looking at Sophia and Carl.

"No, sir." Sophia responded, her voice soft. Jim seemed glad to hear that.

"Your mama's right. The sun just cooked my head that is all." Jim smiled.

"Jim, do you know why you were digging? Can you say?" Dale asks, walking over to them.

"Hey, Dale." I called down to him. He didn't even look up at me. _Okay, I see how it is. Forget that little Cara is here._

"I had a reason," Jim said, "Don't remember. Something I dreamt last night. You dad was in it. You were too," He was looking at Carl, "You were worried about him. Can't remember the rest. You worried about your dad?"

"They're not back yet." Carl whimpered.

"We don't need to talk about that." Lori said, trying to comfort Carl.

"You're dad's a police officer, son. He helps people. Probably just came across some folks needing help, that's all. That man, he is tough as nails. I don't know him well, but... I could see it in him. Am I alright?"

"Oh yeah." Shane said.

"There ain't nothing gonna stop him from getting back here to you and your mom, I promise you that." Jim spoke, trying to reassure Carl.

"Alright! Who wants to help me clean some fish, huh?" Shane asks, clapping his hands together.

"Sweet!" Carl squealed, "Come on, Sophia!" Sophia and Carl ran after Shane. My mother trailed after them.

"Stay with Carol, alright Carl?" Lori called after them. I saw Jim look at Lori with a serious expression on his face.

"You keep your boy close. You don't ever let him out of your sight." Lori nodded, agreeing with him. She thought about it for a second and went after them.

As she walked by, I guess she noticed me up on top of the RV because she stopped and looked up at me. She looked a little confused, but she got over it quickly.

"Do you want to come help us, Car (pronounced like CARE)?" Lori asks sweetly.

"No, thank you. I am actually really comfortable up here. If you wouldn't mind, could you bring my plate up when dinner is ready?" I smile.

"No problem sweetheart." She smiled at me once more before heading over the dinner crew.

…

I had fallen asleep at some point. And apparently Dale came up, because my sore foot was propped up on another fold out char with a pillow. He also threw a top sheet on me, mostly likely to keep the bugs away. There was a couple books next to my chair and a bottle of water, waiting for me to dig into. I smiled softly. Gotta love Dale. The suns still out, so I most've only been out for an hour or two. The smell of fish filled my nose. I don't know whether to be glad (for the food) or grossed out. I could hear people chatting and doing chores.

"I, uh, I built up the rocks all around the fire. See? So the flames can be a little higher and they're still hidden." Morales said. Both Shane and Carl walked over to Jim.

"Hey, Jim. How you feeling, man?" Shane asks.

"I'm better. More myself now." He replied.

"I hope you understand the need for this... this timeout. I've got others I've got to think about. I just wanted to make sure there's no... there's no hard feelings." Shane said.

"There's not. I do understand."

"Okay. Why don't you come join in with the rest of us? Big ol' fish fry."

"I'd like that very much."

"Okay." Shane let him go.

Jim sighed, happily getting off of the ground. He stretched, cracking his back. I groaned. I don't like that popping sound. It is a little unnerving. He walked off towards his tent, probably going to change or at least grab a fresh shirt. After digging for hours in the hot sun then add on being tied to the tree, he must be really sweaty and gross. Shane walked back over to the fire, but Carl stayed behind. He looked up at me, slightly confused.

"There you are, Cara. I was wondering where went." He states, kind of yelling.

"Your mom and Dale knew I was up here, why didn't you ask them?" I laugh.

"Oh. I guess that slipped my mind," He bit his lip.

"I bet it did, silly." I giggle.

"Are you gonna come have dinner with us?" He pouted.

"Sorry, Carl. I am really comfortable up here, plus I don't think I can make it down the latter without falling. Your mom said she'd bring me a plate. If you want you can come up here with me." He shook his head.

"Mom wants me to eat with her. Something about not leaving her sight."

"Oh okay!" I smiled down at him, "Watch my sister, okay?" He nodded.

"Carl!" Lori yelled.

"I gotta go! Coming Mom!" He yelled, running off. He stopped and looked back at me. He smiled and sent me a happy wave.

…

When dinner was ready, Lori brought me a plate filled with small pieces of fish. I thanked her, before chowing down on the flour covered fish. It was really good, even with very little seasoning. The group was chatting happily with each other. I missed Glenn's awkward company. He always keeps me entertained during meals and random times during the day. I hope him and the others are alright, they have been gone all day. If something happened to him or Daryl, I don't know what I'd do without them.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the fish, we haven't had meal like this since the beginning. That was when everyone put in the food that they brought from home. Ed had some Military food packets, those were really gross. He didn't share those and he got rude with mom when she offered Lori one to give Carl, who was starving. I wanted to punch him in the stomach for that. It was rude and totally not something you should do at the end of world.

"Pass the fish, please."

"Here you go."

"Man oh man that was good. I miss doing stuff like this." He starts to fix his watch.

"I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy." Morales asks, turning to look at Dale.

"What?"

"That watch." Morales points to the watch on Dale's wrist.

"What's wrong with my watch?" Dale asks, looking offended.

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass." Morales continued.

"I've wondering this myself." Jacqui chimes in.

"I'm missing the point." Dale says.

"Unless, I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while." She continued.

"Then there's you every day winding that stupid watch." Morales butted in again.

"Guys." I tried to butt in from the top of the RV. I look behind me and notice a rustling in the bushes.

"Time..." Dale states, "it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here, I like... I like what, um, a father said to his sin when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, 'I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me. I give it to you not that you may remember the time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of you breath trying to conquer it.'"

"You are so weird." Amy pointed out. Everyone laughed, well everyone but me. I was starting to panic. The noise from the before was getting louder.

"It is not me, it's Faulkner. William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing." Dale retorted. Amy stood up from her spot.

"Where are you going?" Andrea asks, jumping up a little bit.

"I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here..." Amy snapped, before walking towards the RV. I looked down at her.

"Be careful, Amy." I whispered, watching her walk into the RV.

"I will, Cara." She laughed.

I nodded. I looked over my shoulder, noticing something or somethings moving around in the dark. There was a little growling coming from the darkness. Oh crap! I turned around in a panic, trying to get the words out but none would. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, while I was trying to get my thoughts in order to warn them. I started to wave my arms frantically, but no one seemed to notice. I should have asked for a light or flashlight when Lori brought me dinner.

The growling got louder and my eyes got wider. I heard the door to the RV open and Amy walking out. She started to say something, but a walker that I hadn't seen came out from behind the RV latched itself onto her arm. That caused her to scream. Everyone jumped up. The men grabbed the weapons or the closest sharp instrument near them and attacked. Many of the man had guns and others didn't. Andrea screamed for Amy.

"Mom!" Carl screamed.

"Carl!" Lori yelled, pulling him to her.

"Lori, get him down!" Shane shrieked. He held onto his shotgun and shot several of the other walkers that had made themselves known.

I sobbed as one went after my mom and Sophia, luckily Jim was there. He smacked the walker in the head a couple of times, making sure it wasn't going to be getting back up before he pushed them to the RV. There were some people that weren't paying attention and got bitten by the walkers that snuck up on them. Morales was killing any of the walkers that got close to his family. Trying his best to make sure that nothing happened to him. I couldn't move, fear froze me.

"I am right here." Lori says, trying to comfort Carl, "Shane, what do we do? Shane!"

"Follow me!" Morales yells, as the walker who attacked Amy took a chunk out of her neck. I screamed again, as blood squirted out of the wound in her neck.

"No! No! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Andrea sobbed, reaching for her sister, "God! I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do." The fight continued and Shane kept his eye on Lori and Carl.

"Carol!" Lori yelled, I looked up.

"MOM! SOPHIA!" I yell.

"Stay close!" Shane orders. Morales killed two more walkers, while pushing his family closer the RV, "Come on, y'all! Work your way up here!" He shouted.

"Right in front of you, Shane!" Lori shouted. He got it.

"Everyone get to the RV! Go!" It was Morales who called the order. He shot down three more walkers before pushing his family to the RV faster.

"Shane! Shane!" Lori screeched.

"Stay with me. Stay behind me! Morales, work your way up here!"

"Get behind me, Carl. Let's go! Stay with me." Lori order Carl, pulling at his arm.

Carl tripped as Lori pulled too hard. He cried out for her, but was cut off by a walker coming towards him. Lori was pulled away by Shane, who aimed his gun at the walker but was stopped when the walker hit ground down. Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and T-dog popped out of the forest. Their guns ablaze, taking down the walkers that the others weren't getting to fast enough. I smiled a little bit when I noticed Glenn looking around, probably searching for me.

"Cara!" Glenn shouted, shooting a walker that had went for Dale.

"I am up here, Glenn! On top of the RV!" I yelled back, causing him to look up at me.

"Baby! Carl! Baby!" Rick yelled.

"Dad!" Carl yelled back.

"Carl!" When all of the walkers were dead, Carl ran over to Rick and hugged him tightly. All of the families that had been separated during the fight, ran into each other's arms. People were sobbing, but Andrea's sobs were the loudest as she held onto Amy's body.

I tried to climb down the latter of the RV, but I couldn't. Glenn ran over and helped me down the rest of the ways. Once my feet were down on the ground, He pulled me into a tight hug.

"I am so glad that you're okay. If something happened to you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself." Glenn whispered, his voice filled with relief.

"I feel the same way about you Glenn. You are my best friend!" I buried my head into his chest. We turned to face the group, or what is left of the group.

"I remember my dream now, why I dug the holes." Jim said, breaking the silence that had fallen over us.

I looked up at Glenn, silently begging him to let me sleep with him tonight. He just nodded, not really looking at me but looking at the bodies lying around the camp. I sighed and limped towards my tent. While I was changing my clothes, a scream echoed through camp. I pulled my pants up quickly, grabbing my bat from on top of my bed. I ran out of my tent and headed towards the sobs. When I rounded the corner, my heart stopped. My mom was on her knees in front of their tent with Sophia standing off to the side. There was blood and guts everywhere.

Ed was the only one in the tent when the attack happened. He was 'resting' after the beating Shane gave him down at the lake. He almost got another one when mom was finished with him, because he tried to get Sophia to come with him. I guess Shane had heard him and figured out what Ed wanted. Shane threatened him and told Sophia not to go near him.

I am more shocked that mom and Sophia were upset about him being dead. I mean this is karma for everything that he did to us. I don't see why they don't see it that way. Hopefully, mom and Sophia (and me) live long enough to get over what he did. They deserve to be happy and strong. I'm making it my mission to protect them, even if it meant giving up my life.

"Goodbye, daddy." I whisper, sarcastically to myself.

…

 **A/N Hey there, Hi there, Ho there!**

 **It has been a long time since I last updated. I have been having some health problems, which haven't been resolved. Hopefully, the doctors I've going to and the blood types I have been going through will shine some light as to what is going on.**

 **I hope you like this chapter. I made it really long, because I haven't updated and I don't know when I'll be updating again.**

 **Please review! It really means a lot to me to see all of your kind words and comments about what you liked. You guys are wonderful! I love you all so much! I wanna think all the people who've followed and favorited this story. You lot are amazing. When you review (PLEASE REVIEW!), let me know where you're reading this (like state, country, town, whatever) and something interesting about it!**

 **Night/Morning!**

 **G-V Princess3**

 **PS Without the authors note, this chapter is 5300 words and 17 pages. That is the longest I have ever written. None of my chapters for my Glenn story are this long! I had some inspiration and some distraction while writing this chapter. (I have been watching several movies while writing this.) Hehe! Love ya!**


	7. Chapter 7

Time To Grow Up

Chapter 7: Funeral Time

…Cara's POV…

…Next Morning…

Nobody talked, they just worked. Some were moving the bodies and others were digging holes. Mom made me and Sophia sit at the picnic table with Carl. Sophia and Carl are playing War, while I sat back and watched the others work. Well, everyone but Andrea. She was still kneeling over the body of her dead sister, ready to shot anyone who came to close. Lori slowly tried to approach her.

"Andrea," She whispered, "I am so spry. But she's gone. You gotta let us take her. You know, we all cared about her and I promise that we will be as gentle as we can." _Shut up, Lori. You aren't helping._ I growl mentally.

I looked away from them, letting my eyes drift towards Daryl. He swung the ax over his head and into the head of the Walkers, while Glenn and T-Dog threw their (the Walkers) bodies into the fire. The smell was awful, but it was a quick way of getting rid of all of the bodies. Daryl looked up from his last Walker and saw me watching him. He gave me an awkward wave and went back to work. I got up from my spot, heading towards Andrea. But Rick's voice stopped me.

"She still won't move?" He asks, walking over to Shane, Lori, my mom, and Dale. I frowned.

"She won't even talk to us. She's been there all night. What are we gonna do?" Lori states, glancing over at Andrea. Andrea was clutching Amy's hand.

"We can't just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it, same as the others." Shane states, trying to convince Rick. He was starting to sound like an asshole again.

"I'll her how it is." Rick replies, trying to act like he wasn't wary of approaching her. As he got closer to her, she raised up her gun and pointed it at him, "Andrea."

"I know how the safety works." She snaps.

"Alright. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He raised his hand, backing away slowly.

I had to roll my eyes. These people have no tacked at all. I looked away from them and continued my way over to her. I heard my mother gasp as she saw me. I held up my hand, telling her to back off. I kneeled down in front of her and took Amy's empty hand.

"I am sorry, Andrea. Amy didn't deserve to go out like this. She deserved to be here with us, with you." I muttered, trying to hold back tears.

"Amy loved you." She whimpered, not looking at me.

"What?" I ask, looking up in shock.

"She loved you. She loved the way you stood up for yourself and didn't let people talk down to just because you were a kid." I chuckled lightly.

"I loved her too. She told me about boys and dating. I know I am only 12, but the World has ended and my mother never gave me the Talk." Andrea giggled softly.

"I bet she was giggling and blushing, like a Catholic schoolgirl." I looked back down at Amy.

"She was the Big sister that I always wanted."

"And you were the little sister, she never got."

I smiled softly, leaning in to kiss her forehead, "I am gonna miss you Amy, but at least now you get to be with all of the Unicorns and Mermaids that you told me about. I am sad that you are gone, but I am glad that I got to meet you and you are free of this awful world. Goodbye, lovely Am." I got up and leaned over Amy's body to give Andrea a hug. It took her a second, but she hugged me back tightly.

…An Hour Later…

After I left Andrea, I went and grabbed my journal from my tent. I had tucked it into my waist band and climbed the ladder on the RV. I guess the RV roof has become my place. I just come up here to think, write, and even get away from everyone. Well, getting away from everyone isn't really easy because they can just climb up the ladder.

I was writing about Amy and what Andrea told me, when I heard Daryl causing a ruckus next to the RV.

"Y'all can't be serious. Y'all are lettin' her put us all in danger. The dead girl is a fuckin' tickin' time bomb." Daryl hissed, looking between Rick and Shane.

"What do you suggest we do?" Rick asks, crossing his arms.

"Take the shot. Clean," I gasped, "I can hit it in the brain from here." Okay, I have heard enough. I climbed down the ladder, as quickly as I could, "I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

"Yeah, but she ain't a damn turkey. She is Andrea's sister and my closest friend!"

"Cara! Language!" Mom scolded, well tried.

"This isn't any of ya business Cara." He spat, glaring down at me.

"It is my business, because she was my friend!" I glare back at him.

"For God sakes, just let her be." Lori yelled, agreeing with me before going to sit down. Daryl scoffed. Walking away. _Ass._

…

I am now back on top of the RV, trying to cool down after my spat with Daryl. I sighed what the hell is wrong with him. He had never acted this way with me before and it is starting to get on my nerves. What id T-Dog hadn't lost the key to the handcuffs and Merle was able to make it back to the group? Would Daryl still be acting like this with me or would he have gone back to his old self? I miss the old him, I guess that it could still be within him.

"Wake up, Jimbo. We've got work to do." Daryl said, startling Jim. Daryl headed towards Morales, who was trying to move a body. Daryl leaned over and grabbed the other half of the body.

"Thanks. Thanks" Morales breathed. The two of them dragged the dead camper body over to the burn pit, where Glenn was standing.

"What are you guys doing?" He said, rushing towards them," This is for geeks, not our people. Our people go over there." He pointed over at the pile of familiar faces, some young and others older.

"What's the difference? They're all infected." Morales asked, setting the body down for a second.

"Our people go in that row there. We don't burn them! We bury them." Glenn's eyes harden, but that didn't hide the tears in his voice, "Understand? Our people go in that row over there." He pointed again, harder this time. The other men rolled their eyes and took the body over to the correct pile.

I could see Daryl tense as he sat the body down next to Ed. He was about to explode, I could tell.

"You reap what you sow." Daryl stated.

"You know what? Shut up, man." Morales hollered.

"Y'all left my brother for dead! Ya had this comin'!" Daryl hissed, walking away. No one went after him. I shook my head, _whiner._ Everyone went back to work and I went back to writing in my journal.

…

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" Jacqui yelled, point at a scared and tired Jim. Everyone flocked around him, well everyone but Andrea and I. She was still stroking her sister's cheek, while I am just too comfortable where I am. I did, however, look up from the nearly filled page to watch was going on. Daryl charged at him, welding the pickax from earlier.

"Show it to us." He demanded, "Show it to us."

"I'm okay. I'm okay." He rambled, trying to back away from everybody. I could feel the panic flying off of him as Daryl got closer to him. I frowned. _Poor Jim._

"Easy, Jim." Shane cooed.

"Grab him!" Daryl shouted, glaring at him, "Grab him!" Jim grabbed the shovel that had been at his feet and started to swing it around, not hitting anyone.

"Jim, put it down. Put it down." Shane spoke calmly. T-Dog snuck up behind him and grabbed ahold of him.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim kept chanting that same line over and over. Daryl leaned forward and lifted Jim's shirt. There on his pale chest was a bloodily bite mark. I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand. _No. Not Jim too._ Glenn and Daryl looked up at me. I shook my head and climbed down from the RV. I limped (my ankle still hurt from yesterday when Ed pushed me down at the quarry) as quickly as I could towards my tent, trying to get away from the scene playing in front of me.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim kept ranting as they moved him to the RV, not inside but to a crate in front of the door.

…

For the last twenty minutes, the fetial position has been my best friend. The vice grip that I had on my pillow hadn't loosened, since I grabbed it when I got into my tent. The only thing that I have been able to let go of is the tears I've been holding onto, since I saw the Walker latch itself onto Amy.

The sound of three light taps, startled me from my mourning. I groaned and told him to come in. He was silent, as he unzipped, climbed in, and zipped it back up. He had spoken a word as he headed to me. He scrambled onto my bed, pulling me to him. I cuddled into him, gripping onto his thin shirt.

"ti's npt pais." I mumble into his chest.

"What?"

"It's not fair." I repeat.

"What isn't fair, Cara?" He asks, looking down at me. His eye were filled with concern.

"It isn't fair that Amy died and Jim is on his way. The only good thing that came out of this whole event is that they got my father, but those other good people didn't do anything to deserve this fate. I would trade Shane from Amy and Jim." I closed my eyes, trying to hide the new wave of tears that are threatening to spill,

"You don't mean that."

I nodded my head, "Shane may be a good survivor, but he isn't a good person, Okay, maybe at one point he was, but now not so much. Whereas Amy and Jim were good people. Amy helped me when I had questions about girl stuff, and Jim was nice. And he lost his family to those damn things."

"Oh Cara." Glenn muttered, rubbing my back which lured me to sleep.

…Third Person POV…

The guys, Lori, Carol, and Jacqui were gather around a tree talking about Jim. They kept glancing over at him, trying not to look suspicious. Daryl grunted.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Daryl said, gripping the pickaxe.

"Is that what you'd want, if it were you?" Shane asks, resting his hands on his side.

"Yeah," He nodded, "and I'd thank you while ya did it." Dale shook his head.

"What about Cara. Would you be thanking her? She'd be brokenhearted." Lori asks.

"Leave her out of this! She ain't my kid!" He yelled, throwing his empty hand in the air.

"That isn't important right now, but guy I hate to say it," Dale states, "I never thought I would... but maybe Daryl is right."

"Jim is not a monster, Dale, or some raid dog." Ruck replied.

"I'm not suggesting..."

"He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" Rick interrupted Dale.

"The line is pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers or them to be." Daryl snapped.

"What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure." Rick suggested.

"I heard that too," Shane said looking at him, "heard a lot if things before the world went to hell." Rick shot Shane a look of disbelief.

"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick asks.

"Man, that is a stretch right there." Shane argues.

"Why? If there's any government left, any stricture at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection..."

"Okay, Rick." Shane stressed, "you want those things, alright? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base Fort Benning."

"That's 100 miles in the opposite direction.." Lori said, poking her head out a little bit.

"That is right," Shane snapped, "But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll heavily armed. We'd be safe there." The others in the little group looked between Rick and Shane, not knowing whose side to be on. It was especially hard for Lori, because of Rick being her husband and Shane being the man she turned to when she thought she'd lost Rick.

"The military was on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance." Rick tried to reason with Shane. Daryl was the first one to look back at Jim, who was sitting on the still sitting on the crate.

"You go looking for aspirin." Daryl stated, "Do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" Daryl lunged forward with his pickaxe.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shane yelled, as Daryl continued towards Jim with this pickaxe swinging. Rick couldn't let Daryl hurt Jim, so he raised his gun and pointed it at him.

"We don't kill the living." Daryl let out a bemused chuckle.

"That's funny coming from the guy who just put a gun to my head."

Everyone was staring between Rick and Daryl, wondering what was going to happen. Daryl hadn't turned his full body towards Rick, just his head. No one saw little Cara step out of her tent, trying to wipe away the sleep that made itself home in her eyes. She caught a glimpse of Rick and Daryl, and froze. _What?_

…Cara's POV…

"We may disagree on some things, but not on this. You put it down. Go on." Shane ordered, I think Daryl. Daryl said something I couldn't make out. He threw the pickaxe on the ground.

"You people don't know what you are fucking doing!" Daryl screamed, before heading towards his tent. I bit my lip, deciding to follow him.

I had just made it passed the little group, when Rick started to lead Jim into the RV. I shook my head, quickening my pace.

"Daryl!" I yell, pulling at my shirt.

"WHAT?!" He hissed, swinging around to see who had called him. He looked like he was ready for a fight.

"Chill, Dar. It's just me." I teased raising my hands.

"What do ya want Cara?" He sighed.

"I saw the last bit of that fight of yours and I wanted to make sure that you were alright."

He shook his head and smiled a little bit. "I'm fine, Cara. Just pissed that they ain't takin' this shit seriously." He sat down in front of his tent.

I copied him. "I think that they are tryin' to find a way to save Jim's life, but they ain't doing it right."

"Since when did you get so mature?" He chuckled, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

I grinned really big. "I got mature, during the time you were ignoring me."

He sighed again. "I am sorry about that, kid. I just didn't want to feel something if ya died."

"I don't think that is a good enough excuse. Ya gonna get close to someone at some point, it doesn't matter who it is and they are gonna die. You can't keep yourself from caring about the people in this group without actually leaving this group." I cupped his face, "You are like the father I wish I had but never got and I don't want you push me away. So please don't push me away."

He nodded, pulling me into a hug. "I wish I was lucky enough to have a daughter, especially if she woulda turned out like ya." He smiled softly, "Don't ya ever tell any of the other about this, ya got me? I don't want them to that I got soft side." I laughed.

"I got ya, Dar. I won't tell anyone about your soft side and even if I did, I don't think anyone would believe me anyways." He hugged me one more time before standing up.

"I guess I should be getting' back to work, there are dead heads to smash." I gagged.

"That is so gross." I moved away from him, "I am going to start packing up my tent. I don't want to get behind."

"Alright, kid. Ya put yar stuff in my truck, ya'll be ridin' with me." I smiled up at him and nodded. He pushed me towards my tent, which caused me to glare at him, before picking up the pickaxe and heading back over to the dead bodies.

I sigh, pulling open my tent. It doesn't seem real, having to pack up and hit the road. But I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. I just wish that it didn't cost so much. I started folding my clothes and putting them in the duffel bag that I brought when we first left the house. It took a lot of effort, but I got all of the clothes into one bag. I hadn't realized that I had a lot of clothing, but I should have figured that I did have a lot because Glenn always brought me some new stuff when he went into town. Goodness, I've become spoiled since the world ended. Huh? That is new. When I zipped the bag up, I headed to Daryl's truck. I looked around for and saw him about to slam the pickaxe into Ed's head. (Haha Ed's Head... It rhymes... Sorry not sorry.) My mom reached forward, stopping Daryl from doing anything.

"I'll do it. He's my husband." He handed her the pickaxe, shrugging his shoulders. She got a good hold of the axe, swinging it back and slammed it into his head; over and over again. She started to ball after the first blow, but she kept going. I smiled softly, continuing on my way to Daryl's truck.

I tossed my duffel bag into the bed of the truck, tucking it away so that Daryl had space for his things, his bike, and my things. I went back to my tent and packed up the loss items like my journals, books, pens, and pencils. They fit in the pack that Glenn brought me last month. I had to roll my blanket up with my pillow inside to have some room in the little bag the blanket came in, surprisingly it all fit. It took me forever to deflate my air mattress, but I was able to fold it up and wrap it with a couple of wires before slipping it into a bag. I made sure everything was out of my tent, before I started to disassemble my temporary home. Glenn and Dale were walking by when I started to have some issues reaching things and offered to help. That was a blessing, because I am really short. Sophia got our mother's height, whereas I got our father's stubbiness, plus I am 12. I nodded quickly, which caused them to chuckle. With them helping, it got down twice as fast.

They also offered to help me take my stuff to Daryl's truck, but I told them that I had it and I had to check my bags. I had to make sure that all of my knives were a counted for. Which reminds me, I have to get my bat off of the RV roof. I left there after I ran off this morning, when the whole Jim thing happened. I found all of my knives where in their rightful place, so I began to carry my stuff to the truck. This time I had to pass Andrea, who was still sitting with Amy. I bit my lip, holding back tears. It took more energy to toss my tent and other bags in the back than before.

I had turned around when Amy came back to life. I froze when I saw her start to move around and moan. She was pawing at the air, looking for something to grab onto and possibly eat. She had grabbed ahold of Andrea's hair, which got her to sit up. Andrea screamed and I had to cover my mouth with my hand to be able to contain my screams. Andrea kept pulling her face away from her sister's hungry mouth. The other heard Andrea's scream and turned to see what happened. Just like me, they stand there froze. Glenn was able to move to stand next to me. He wrapped his arms around and hide my face in his chest, trying to block my view of the scene playing out in front of me. My screams turned into sobs as Andrea put her gun to her sister's head and pulled the trigger. I could have sworn that she whispered 'I'm sorry' as she did it. She just cradled her sister's body, sobbing.

I pushed Glenn away and took off to find my sister. Moments like that, make me want to grab ahold of Sophia and never let go. She was sitting with Carl, both of them with Lori and my mom. I nearly knocked her off of her feet. I just wrapped my arms around her and squeezed. She stood there, shocked. I sigh.

"I am sorry for not spending enough time with you, Sophia. I'll try and make it up to you, I promise." I whisper in her ear.

"That is okay, Cara. I know that you are different from me and you don't like playing around. We may be twins, but that doesn't mean we are the same person. I mean we don't look alike." She whispered back, giggling a little bit at the end.

"I just don't want to loss you. I don't think I'll be able to handle it. You are my other half, Sophia."

"I agree, Cara."

We hugged for a while longer, before mom and Lori said that we should rest a little before the funeral. We nodded and separated. I went and laid down in Glenn's tent, while Carl and Sophia went to the Grimes tent to rest. Luckily for me, Glenn hasn't had time to take apart his tent. I didn't actually rest any, because of all the noise. I could hear the bodies of the people in our camp be thrown into the back of a truck. I could hear whoever was digging the extra hole hitting rocks as they dug. It was all very distracting.

"I still think it's a mistake to not burn these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all, wasn't that the idea?" I heard Daryl's muffled voice call over to someone.

"At first." Shane replied.

"Then Chinaman gets emotional, sayin' it's not the thing to do, and we just follow him along? These people need to know who is in charge here, and what the rules are." I scoffed. _Glenn is Korean not Chinese, Daryl._

"There are no rules." Rick states. _Thank God, there is a voice of reason._

"Well, that's a problem," Lori butts in, "We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." _Well Lori, we can't really be our old selves. We have to move on._

…A little bit later…

We staged a funeral for the people we lost. Dale and Andrea struggled to get Amy's body into the hole that was dug for her. I felt bad for her. I wanted to help, but it looked like she didn't want any help. I just stood back with my sister and watched her struggle, like everyone else. She was sobbing.

"I can do it. I can do it. I can do it!" She snapped at Dale, who was trying to help her out as she tried to wipe away the tears.

After the service, everyone headed back camp from the quarry. Everyone was silent and mourning for the people we've lost. I didn't grieve for many of them, especially my father, but I did grieve for Amy and soon Jim.

…

 _ **A/N Hey!**_

 _ **I am sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Again I've been deal with a lot of medical stuff. And I was waiting for more than one review, but I didn't get anything. I am thankful for that one review though! So, I go back to school on August 24. Which is really soon. I don't know how much I'll be updating then.**_

 _ **Thank you, HarukaTaiga, for you comment.**_

 _ **I also wanna thank everyone who has followed and/or favorited this story! You guys are just as amazing.**_

 _ **Try giving me more than one review on this one. It'll make me feel better. :D**_

 _ **Thank you for reading!**_

 _ **You Rock!**_

 _ **G-V Princess**_


	8. Chapter 8

Time To Grow Up

Chapter 8: CDC

…Cara's POV…

…Group Meeting…

We are going to the CDC... And the adults in this group think that is a great idea. I think that they need to realize that it is a stupid idea, because most people would have left by now. I mean, I wouldn't want to stick around a stuff lad while my family was getting eaten by zombies. I would allow my father to be eaten, which has already happened, but I wouldn't if I had a better father. I would want to go and protect them as long as I could. I would probably loss my godforsaken mind, if I didn't know what was happening to the ones I care about.

"Everybody, listen up," Shane said, clapping his hands, "Those of you with CB's, we're going to be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem and don't have a CB or can't get a signal, or whatever, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?" He kind of sounded like my old math teacher... Man I hated him.

"We're... um we're not going." Morales said, stepping away from his family.

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to we want to be with our people." His wife, Miranda, said.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane warned.

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family." Morales spoke.

"You sure?" Rick asks, stepping closer to him.

"We talked about it. We're sure." Morales said.

"Alright, Shane." Rick said, turning towards Shane.

"Yeah, alright."

".357?" Rick asks Shane.

"Yeah." Rick pulled out a gun and handed it over to Morales, while Shane handed over some ammo for it.

"The box is half full." Shane said, pulling away from Morales.

"Thank you all… For everything." Miranda said, smiling weakly.

"Come here." Lori pulled Miranda in for a hug, acting how any 'First Lady' should act. I don't think that Lori is fit for this job.

"Good luck, man." Shane said, smiling.

"Appreciate it."

Everyone started to hug the Morales'. I stood off a little bit, not wanting to be a part of it. I was never really close to them.

"Yeah." I heard Eliza say to my sister. I looked over and saw them hugging.

"Bye." They say at the same time.

"Thank you." Miranda whispered to Jacqui, while they hugged. Eliza handed Sophia her doll, causing them both to cry.

"Channel 40, if you change your minds. Alright?" Rick mentioned, Morales just nodded.

"Yeah." Mom said, shyly. She had taken Sophia and I into her arms. Sophia leaned into our mother, while I leaned away a little. They were crying a little and I was just trying to get all over with.

If you can't tell, I am not much of a crier. There are times were I will cry, but this is not one of those times. It takes a lot for me to cry, you know since of being abused for most of my life.

"I know." Morales and his family packed themselves into their car. We all waved goodbye as they drove off.

"What makes you think our odds are any better?" Way to pessimistic Shane, "Come on. Let's go. Let's get move out." Shane order, climbing into his jeep.

Everyone was packing themselves into their respective cars. I looked around, not knowing which vehicle. They all seemed to be filled to the brim with people and supplies. Daryl's truck was the only vehicle that wasn't crammed full with stuff. I gingerly walked over to him, watching as he slams the back of his truck.

"Hey, Daryl."

"What?" He asks, turning towards me, "Oh sorry, kid. I thought you were someone else. So, what do you need?"

"I was wondering if I could ride with you. Every other car is packed to the brim with stuff and people, so I don't have a place to be."

"I don' mind if ya ride with me. I like ya company more than any of the other peoples."

"Thanks, Daryl." I smiled up at him widely. He moved to the passenger side door.

"No problem. Now get in." He chuckled, opening the door for me. I hopped in, tossing my pack onto the floor. Daryl shut the door and ran over to the driver's side if the truck.

…

We drove behind the RV, which Dale was driving while Jacqui took care of Jim. Or that is what Glenn told everyone over the radio. Glenn was mostly talking to me, which was bothering Shane. He wanted us all to be quiet and we weren't giving him that. Shane even snapped at us once when we passed a couple of Walkers. Glenn and I laughed, which pissed Shane off anymore. Daryl chuckled at me when I moved to flip him (Shane) off.

While we were en route to the CDC, the radiator hose burst. We had to pull over to take care of it. There had been a few Walkers that the older guys had to care of before we were all able to get out of the cars. I climbed out of the trucked and headed over to the RV.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I said I needed the hose from the cube van." Dale said, running his and over his face.

"Can ya jury-rig it?" Rick asked, leaning against the front of the RV.

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape that hose. And I'm out of duct tape." Dale replied.

"I see something up ahead. If we're lucky, it is a gas station." Shane said, stepping up. Jacqui stepped out of the RV, looking worried.

"Y'all, Jim...it's bad. I don't think that he can take anymore." She said, the worry from her face filled her voice. I gasped.

"Hey, Rick, want to hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back." Shane said, looking at Rick.

"Yeah, I'll come along too and I'll back ya up." T-dog said, walking forward.

"Y'all keep your eyes open now. We'll be right back." Shane said, more like demand/ordered. I roll my eyes and turn back toward the truck. I saw Carl and Sophia sitting on the hood of the car that Rick was driving. They were giggling and chatting like they could still be children. I frowned and walked away from them, an unusual feeling started to bubble up in my stomach.

I turned and ran passed Glenn and Andrea, tears threatening to spill. I didn't pay either of them any mind as I ran by, I just wanted to get away from Carl and Sophia.

…Quick Third Person POV…

Glenn and Andrea stood on the side of the RV by the door, standing guarding while Lori and Carol checked on Jim. They tried to make some small talk, but gave up when things got awkward. They just stood there watching the other members of the group try to find something to do. They found it rather boring. They listened to Shane, Rick, Dale, T-dog, and Cara talk by the front of the RV. Cara was the only not really talking, it was most likely due to the fact that she was 12 and they were grown men. They wouldn't have listened to anything that she said anyways. When the little group broke up, Cara walked towards the other cars, probably heading back to Daryl's truck.

She had stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Carl and her sister sitting on the top of Rick's car. The two kids were talking and giggling, leaning in close to each other. If they had been a little older, Glenn and Andrea would have thought they were flirting. It seemed to Andrea that their actions were bothering Cara. Her thoughts were confirmed when Cara ran by with tears in her eyes.

Andrea sighed and stood up from her spot leaning against the RV. Cara never cried, which added to Andrea's worry.

"I am going to go check on Cara." She said to Glenn, not waiting for his answer. She trailed after Cara. Cara had stopped and hopped onto the top of Daryl's truck.

…Cara's POV…

"Cara?" A voice said, causing me to jump. I looked down and saw Andrea.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"Hey, I just wanted to know if you were okay, but I can see that I am not wanted. So, I'll be going now." Andrea started to walk off, but she was walking slower than normal.

"Wait!"

"Yes..." She drew out the s in yes, turning back to me.

"I think that I am jealous." I mutter.

"Jealous of who, sweetie?" She asks, leaning against the truck.

"Sophia."

"Why would you be jealous of her?" She looked up at me. If she noticed the blush that had taken over my face, she didn't say anything.

"ShegetstotalktoCarlallthetimeandIdon't." I rambled.

"What was that?" Her eyebrows furrowed. I sigh.

"She gets to talk to Carl all the time and I don't."

She nodded her head. "I get it."

"You get what?" I asks, sliding off of the truck.

"You like Carl." She said, a little louder than I like.

I shushed her, "I don't want the whole world to know that."

She chuckled, "I get that. I don't think you need to be jealous though." She wrapped her arm around me.

"How do you know that?" I ask, looking up at her.

"I know that, because I have seen him watching you. You know, when you are helping around camp or just reading on top of the RV with Dale. He watches you all the time, I think that it is pretty adorable." She cracked a little smile.

"No he doesn't."

"Yes, he does."

"Whatever you say, Andrea." I mumble.

"Just you watch, he'll start talking to you more. I promise."

I looked up at her, "You mean that?"

She nodded, "I mean it."

I smiled widely, "Thank you."

"No problem. Let's get back to the others." I nodded and let her lead me over to the others.

…

Apparently, Rick had gone into the RV to talk to Jim. I know this, because Andrea and I stepped up to the group; he came out of the RV. When Shane and T-dog came back from their run, Rick told everybody that Jim wanted to be left behind. I gasped. Jim happens to be one of the people I am actually close to in this group, so this whole thing is starting to upset me. I lunched myself into Glenn's side. He held onto me, tightly.

"It's what he says he wants." He said, trying to sound strong.

"And he's lucid?" My mom asks, trying to make sure that he wasn't going crazy.

"He seems to be, so I would say yes." He replies, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Dale stepped forward, looking at Rick, "Back in the camp, when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down. You misunderstood me," Dale continues to look at Rick, "I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gunna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think that we have his answer."

"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." Shane said. _Well, you have done worse. And there is no problem with you living, so why is this different?_ I thought.

"It's not your call, neither one of you." Lori said.

…

Rick and Shane carried Jim out of the RV, trying to be gentle with him. They leaned him up against a nearby tree. I had ran ahead of them and cleaned out a spot for him, so that he could be comfortable.

"Yeah. That's it." Rick said, causing Jim to groan.

"Hey, another damn tree." Jim chuckled. I gasped, trying to stop myself from tearing up.

"Stop it, Jim." I mumble, coming up to him.

"Hey, Jim...I mean, you know it doesn't need to be like this." Shane stepped forward.

"No, it's good. The breeze feels nice." Jim said, smiling softly.

"Okay, alright." Shane said, moving away. They had tied him to the tree.

"Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight it." Jacqui said, sweetly. She brushed the hair out his face, kissing his cheek. Rick took out a gun and leaned forward to hand it to him.

"Jim, do you want this?" Rick asks.

"No, y'all need it. I'm okay. I'm okay."

"Oh. Hey. Thanks for, um, fighting for us." Dale said, weakly. Everyone else moved to go back to their vehicles, but me. I stood in front of him.

"Hey, Jim." I said, my voice suddenly sounding small.

"Miss. Cara, what are you still doin' over here?" He asks, looking up at me.

"I wanted to say goodbye."

"Well, goodbye darlin'."

"I, I didn't want this to happen." I sobbed.

"Aw, sweetie. I didn't either." A tear fell down his cheek.

"I am gonna miss you."

"I am gonna miss ya too, darlin'. Hey, I want you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Darlin', I want you promise me that you won't let this world mess you up any more than your old man already did. I don't want you to be cold. I want you to be able to let someone in, someone other than Glenn and Daryl. You got me?" I nodded, "I need to hear it, Cara."

"Yes, I promise." Another sob bubbled out.

"Good. Now, go back with Daryl. He seems worried." I nodded as he began to fade away.

"I love you Jim." I whispered, walking away from him.

Daryl had the door open and waiting for me. I climbed in not looking at him. I let the tears fall, not trying to stop or hide them. I heard him sigh and shut the door. He didn't say anything to me as we drove to the CDC.

…

We drove for a long time, before we pulled up to a building. There was sign out front that said "Center for Disease Control." There was loads of dead bodies surrounding the building, there also was loads of flies flying around them. I tried not to gag as I got out of the truck. We tried to quietly approach the building, but there was a couple of us that were trying to not throw up. I happened to be one.

I stood close to Glenn and Daryl, using my shirt to block out the smell. Glenn gripped a gun and my hand, while I gripped my hunting knife and his hand. Daryl had told me to take out my knife when we got out of the truck.

"Alright, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go. Okay, keep moving. Stay together." Shane ordered.

"Keep moving. Come on." Rick said, much nicer than Shane.

"Sh!"

"Carol." Lori said. _Didn't you hear that we need to be quiet?_

"Shh!" Shane shushed her.

"Oh, God." Glenn said, gripping my hand tighter. We had reached the building, but it was locked and had its shutters down.

"Keep it together. Come on." Shane said, trying to keep us together.

"There's nobody here." T-dog stated.

"Then why are the shutters down?" Rick said in a panic.

"Walkers!" Daryl yelled. He moved in front of me. I groaned and pulled out my gun.

"Daryl, I can help." I said, stepping up next to him.

"I don't want you to get hurt Cara."

"I got this." I put the silencer on it and shot a Walker getting close to Lori and Carl.

"Baby, come on!" Lori said, I am not sure if she was talking to Carl or Rick.

Daryl shot a Walker in the head before turning towards Rick, "You led us into a graveyard." He kind of shouted.

"He made a call!" Shane shouted.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl yelled again.

"Just shut up! You hear? Shut up! Rick, this is a dead end." Shane said, getting agitated.

"Leave him alone!" I yell, talking about Daryl.

I am ignored. "Where are we gonna go?" Jacqui asks.

"Do you heat? No blame." Shane said. You could tell that he was starting to blame Rick.

"She's right," Lori says, butting in, "We can't be here, especially this close to the city after dark."

"Shut it, Lori. You know nothing about shit." I snapped at her. Her head snapped towards me.

"That is not how you talk your elders, young lady." Lori scolded.

I rolled my eyes. "You aren't and won't be my elder."

"Cara." Glenn hissed, pulling me away from her.

Getting back on track, Shane stepped closer to Rick, "Fort Benning, Rick... still an option."

"On what? No fuel, no food. That's 100 miles in the other direction." Andrea pointed out.

"125. I checked the map." Glenn added. _Great._

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight." Lori said, causing Carl and Sophia to start crying.

"We'll think of something." Rick said, facing the closed shutters.

"Come on, let's go. Let's get out of here. Let's go. Please?" Shane begged, looking at the Walkers getting close to us. I shot a couple of them. The camera moved, which caught Rick's attention. Daryl came up and grabbed my arm, pulling me back towards the cars.

"The camera...it moved." Rick said, causing everybody to stop.

"You're imagined it." Shane shouted.

"It moved. It moved." Rick pointed at the camera.

"Rick, it is dead. Man. It's an automatic device. It's gears, okay? They're winding down. Now, come on." Shane said, pulling at Rick's arm, "Man, just listen to me. Look around this. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick." Rick began to bang on the shutters.

"Rick, nobody is here!" Lori cried.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me." Rick screamed. Shane tried to drag him away with help from Lori.

"Everybody to the cars now!" Daryl grabbed me, trying to drag me to the car.

"I can walk on my own, you know that right?" I said, raising my gun.

"I know." He said.

"Please, we ae desperate. Please help us. We have women and children, no food, hardly any gas left." Rick pleaded with the invisible force behind the shutters.

"Rick. There's nobody here." Lori begged her husband.

"We have nowhere else to go." Rick continued, ignoring his wife, "Keep your eyes open. If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please!"

"Come on, buddy. Let's go." Shane gripped Rick's arm, pulling him backwards.

"Please help us! You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" We were about to head back to the cars, when the shutters opened. We were then drowned in a bright light. The lights soon turned off, revealing a single man.

"Daryl watch the back." Shane ordered. Daryl nodded and pushed me up front.

"Hello?"

"Hello?"

"Watch the doors. Watch for Walkers."

"Hello?" Suddenly the person that the other hadn't noticed, cocked his gun. Everyone looked over to see the man holding a gun.

"Anybody infected?" He asks.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick said, causing gloom to fall over our group.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance." Rick said, marching forward.

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know."

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that." The man finally lowered his gun.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." The men ran outside and grabbed some of the people's things. I had Daryl grab one of my bags from the back, it was one with some clothes in it. It wasn't completely full, so I could hide some stuff in it if I needed to. The men ran back to us when they had everything, "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill power up here." The shutters went down and everyone got into a elevator.

"Rick Grimes."

"Dr. Edwin Jenner." I stood next to Carl at the front. We were really close.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asks from behind me.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough. Except you," He looked down at Carl, "I'll have to keep my eye on you." He chuckled.

" _Actually, you should be keeping an eye on me."_

…

 _ **A/N Hey there, hi there, ho there!**_

 _ **So, it has been a long time since I last updated... and for that I am sorry. I started school a couple of weeks ago and with school comes work (both job work and school work). I am in college, so it is super hard! I really hope you like this chapter, it took for me several days to write it because of stuff (and thangs) related to the stuff I mentioned earlier.**_

 _ **So, who do you think said that last line? Leave a review/comment telling me who you think it is. Leave a review if you want me to speed things up with Carl and Cara. I was thinking of having Cara be the one that got shot when they were out looking for Sophia. What do you think? Too much trauma for Carol? What did you think of Cara's moments with Jim and Andrea?**_

 _ **QOU (Question Of the Update): What has you schedules been like the last few weeks? Are you in school? Do you work? Do you work and go to school? Any after school activities?**_

 _ **I hope you all are doing great! I am doing well. I get to see the guy I like all the time (with no hope of actually talking to him...) at work. I work at my school. I am having a colonoscopy on Thursday... so pumped... not. Wish me luck!**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_

 _ **G-V Princess.**_

 _ **P.S. Tell me what you want to see.**_

 _ **P.S.S. Can you all read my Glenn story, please? I want to know if I should have Rick get together with Maggie or if I should create another OC for her. But for her it'll be OMC not OFC or it could be an OFC. I don't judge. Thanks!**_


	9. Chapter 9

Time to Grow Up

Chapter 9: Really?!

...Cara's POV…

…Last Chapter…

" _Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asks from behind me._

" _There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough. Except you," He looked down at Carl, "I'll have to keep my eye on you." He chuckled._

" _Actually, you should be keeping an eye on me."_

…Cara's POV…

…Now…

Dr. Jenner looked at me funny, before turning to face the doors. There was an awkward silence for a while, then the elevator opened. Jenner stepped out first, then the group followed. I stayed by Glenn and Daryl, not wanting to be near Jenner more than necessary.

"Are we underground?" Mom asks, resting a hand on Sophia's shoulders. I gulped, thinking about my greatest fear.

"You claustrophobic?" Jenner asks back.

"A little." She looks over at me.

"Try not to think about it," _That is kind of hard to do when your fear is being buried alive._ I thought, "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." The room lite up as we walked in, "Welcome to zone 5."

"Where is everybody? Rick asks, stepping forward, "The other doctors, the staff?" _Good question, Rick._

"I'm it," Jenner replied, "It's just me here."

I looked up at Glenn and rolled my eyes. He frowned, mouthing 'What?' I moved one of my fingers around in a circle next to my head, saying that I thought Jenner was crazy. Glenn chuckled and nodded, basically agreeing with me.

"What about the person you were speaking with? Lori asks, looking around, "Vi?"

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...welcome." Jenner yelled, slightly looking up at the ceiling. I followed his gaze, but didn't see anything. Suddenly, a computerized voice echoed through the large room.

" _Hello, guests. Welcome."_ For some reason, I pictured a computerized woman smiling and waving at us.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Jenner said, looking distraught.

…

One by one, all of us got our blood drawn. I didn't even flinch when he shoved the needle into my thinning arm. He looked at me like he was trying to figure out why I didn't flinch. I told him that I didn't feel pain anymore. That made him upset.

Andrea was the last person to get her blood drawn. While he was working on her, I went and sat down next to my sister. She cuddled up next to me, not really liking us being a part after what happened at the camp. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight. I felt eyes on us, which caused me to look away from her. It was Andrea. I could see the pain in her eyes. I frowned and mouthed, 'I'm sorry'. She just shook her head.

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Andrea said, looking back at Jenner.

"I've already broken every rule in the book by letting you in here. Let me just be thorough." He replied pulling out the syringe, "All done." She stood up, but it seems that she got dizzy because she nearly fell over.

"ooh." She said, using one hand to grab onto the chair and the other to wipe her forehead.

"You okay?" Jenner asks, looking concerned.

"Mmm"

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have." Jacqui said, looking around the group. We all kind of nodded in agreement.

…

Everyone had been sitting at the tables in the CDC cafeteria, laughing. I was sitting next to Glenn and T-dog. I took small bites of my food as I watched Daryl almost fall out his chair with a bottle in his hand. I turned to look at Carl, who was sitting next to his mother, as he asked her if he could have a drink of wine. Lori had just laughed and gave him a stern no.

Raising his wine glass, Dale gestured with it, "You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner," Dale laughed, pouring some into his glass. "And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France then he can have some." Lori said, shooting Rick a look.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on," Rick laughed, "Come on," This time Dale laughed, "What?" Everyone started to laugh. I smiled a little bit, before shoving some potatoes into my mouth. I watched as Dale poured a little bit into a glass for Carl.

"There you are, young lad." Carl looked at it for a second, then he took a sip. Everyone laughed loudly when his face twisted in disgusted.

"Eww." Everyone laughed harder.

"That's my boy. That's my boy." Lori chuckled, patting his back.

"Yuck." He shook his head.

"Good boy." I smiled softly, taking a sip of my own drink.

"That tastes nasty." Carl said, glancing over at me. Everyone continued to laugh.

Shane looked at Carl and said, "Well, just stick to sour pop there, bud."

Daryl looked over at Glenn, who was taking a drink of pop, "Not you, Glenn." Daryl said, taking Glenn's glass and filling it with wine.

"What?" Glenn looked around confused.

"Keep drinking, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." All of the guys laughed. I simply smiled up at Glenn.

Then Rick stands up and says, "It seems to me that we never properly thanked our host."

T-dog stood up and yelled, "He is more than just our host!"

"Hear! Hear!" Everyone, but me, called.

"Here's to you, doc. Booyah!" Daryl yelled, raising his wine bottle.

"Calm down, Daryl. No need to get yourself too excited." I laughed.

"Booyah!"

"Thank you," Jenner replied, meekly.

"Booyah!" Everyone clinked their glasses together.

Everyone was having a good time, but then Shane had to and mess it all up. He just had to turn this into something somber.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked, "All the other doctors that were supposed to figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane," Rick said, "We don't need to do this now." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move... We're supposed to find all the answers. Instead we..." Shane chuckled. It was kind of dark and creepy, "We found him. Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things got bad," Jenner sighed, "a lot of people just left; went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked, leaning forward.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave," Andrea said, "Why?"

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good."

Glenn looked at Shane, before taking another drink of his wine, "Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man."

…

After everyone had finished eating, Jenner led us down a long hallway. Sophia held onto my hand the whole time.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that the kids might enjoy," He looked at us, "Just don't plug in of the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies...if you shower, go easy on the hot water." He said, before walking away.

"Hot water?" Glenn asked, grinning widely.

"That's what the man said." T laughed.

I stepped forward, "I think that if we shower together, we'd save water."

Rick smiled down at me and ruffled my hair, "That's a good idea, kiddo." He looked at the rest of the group, "Lori and I. Andrea can you and Jacqui share?" They both nodded. "Alright, Carol and Sophia." I froze.

I looked at him, "What about me?"

He looked at Lori and my mother, they both nodded, "You and Carl can share, if ya both are comfortable with that." I looked over at Carl. He shrugged.

"I'm cool with that. We'll just turn away from each other." I nodded, turning away from him. A deep red blush invade my tan cheeks.

We all moved down the hallway to the shower area, Carl and I walked awkwardly next to each other. I tightened the straps of my bag, while everyone else chatted animatedly about the hot shower. As we entered the shower area, I led Carl down to the last shower. I didn't want to be close to the adults, mostly Rick and Lori because I figured they'd want to spend some more time together. For one, I didn't want to hear that and for two, I don't think Carl would want to hear his parents going at it.

I sat my bag down in the corner, "I have some shower stuff in my bag, if you want to use that. It is a little girly and I don't know if you want to smell like flowers." I pulled out my stuff.

He shrugged, "It doesn't really matter." I nodded and set the stuff in the shower.

I turned to look at him, "Can you turn around, please?" He nodded and turned away. I stripped out of my dirty clothes and stepped into the shower. I turned it on and put it at a temperature that would waste too much hot water.

"Can I come in now?" Carl asked.

"Yeah." I ran my head under the water, drenching myself in water.

I watched as Carl walked in with his eyes closed, causing me to giggle. I leaned forward and grabbed his hand, pulling him in. I didn't look anywhere but his face, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. I pulled him under the water with me.

"It is okay to open your eyes, Carl. It'll make it easier to wash yourself, if your eyes are open." He let out a shaky breathe.

"Okay." He slowly opened his eyes. "Oh." He looked down at my little chest.

"Carl!" I whispered, trying to cover myself.

"Sorry, Cara." He mumbled, wiping the water from his eyes.

I sighed, "Its fine, Carl." I turned away from him, opening my shampoo.

It took us twenty minutes to figure out that is hard to shower with two people, who aren't looking at each other. In the end, I told Carl that I'd wash him and myself. To say that we was a little red, was an understatement.

"You can wash your private parts. I'd feel more comfortable, if you washed that yourself." I whispered, wiping the dirt from his face. I had to lean up close and scrub a little bit.

I could feel his warm breath on my face. I don't know why, but I had this urge to lean forward and kiss him. I quickly moved away from him and turned to get more soap. I rubbed it on the cloth I found in the bottom of my bag, then I turned to Carl. Hs eyes were slightly parted, but not fully open. I blushed a little bit and walked back over to him, I slowly ran the cloth over his chest. The dirt came off pretty easily. Neither of us spoke. He let me wash him. When I finally got to his private parts, I took his hand and put the cloth in it.

"It's your turn. I'm done, so I am going to get out. I'll wait for you, if you want me too." I whispered.

He nodded, "Please?"

"Sure." I left him in the shower to finish up.

I dried off with a towel I found in the shower area. Once I was dry, I pulled out a pair of jeans and a button up shirt. I slipped on my undergarments, the rushed to put on the rest of my clothes. I left the enclosed area to let Carl get dressed. Once he was all done, I cleaned up the mess and led him out of the room. We walked down the hall, looking for an empty room. We found one close to the rec and took it. After we set our stuff down, Carl and I went separate ways. He went to the rec room to hang out with his mom and Sophia, while I went to explore the place. I took of my empty bags, just in case I found stuff that we might need if this all goes south. Which I think it might.

I searched the empty rooms, grabbing the useful things and shoved them in my bag. When I got to a four way hallway, I looked for a sign that told me where each hallway led too. I did find one. It said that if I turned right, I'd find the samples lab (not going down there); if I was to turn left, it would led me to the gym; and if I were to go forward, it would led me to the nurses office. _Ding! Ding! Looks like I am going to be heading forward._

I silently moved down the long hallway, making sure to look in all the rooms I can on my way. There were some rooms that were locked, so I couldn't get in. When I finally located the nurse's office, the door was locked. I rolled my eyes and reached into my bag, pulling out a little hammer I found in one of the offices. I also grabbed a rag from the bottom of the bag and wrapped it around the hammer. With one hard strike of the hammer, the thin glass broke. I brushed away the broken glass and reached in to unlock the door. I guess I missed a piece, because when I pulled away I cut my wrist on it.

" _Really!"_

…

 **A/N HEY EVERYONE! I AM SO SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO WRITE THIS. I'VE BEEN SUPER BUSY WITH SCHOOL AND WORK. AND YES I TOTALLY WROTE THIS CHAPTER, WHILE WATCHING THE WALKING DEAD MARATHON RIGHT BEFORE THE SEASON 6 PREMIRE! I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS SEASON! I CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO START TONIGHT.**

 **SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE SCENE WITH CARA AND CARL? I WANTED TO ADD A LITTLE SPICE TO IT WITHOUT IT BEING TOO SPICY.**

 **Hey Guest! Thank you for reviewing my story! I hope you like this chapter!**

 **And for everyone who followed and favorited this story, thank you. You all are awesome! I don't think I could do this without you guys!**

 **Please review!**

 **G-V Princess**


	10. Chapter 10

Time To Grow Up

Chapter 10: Asshole

…Cara's POV…

…Past…

 _I silently moved down the long hallway, making sure to look in all the rooms I can on my way. There were some rooms that were locked, so I couldn't get in. When I finally located the nurse's office, the door was locked. I rolled my eyes and reached into my bag, pulling out a little hammer I found in one of the offices. I also grabbed a rag from the bottom of the bag and wrapped it around the hammer. With one hard strike of the hammer, the thin glass broke. I brushed away the broken glass and reached in to unlock the door. I guess I missed a piece, because when I pulled away I cut my wrist on it._

" _Really!"_

…Cara's POV…

…Present…

 _I can't believe this._ I thought as I tied a piece of cloth around the cut to get it to stop the bleeding. I stood up from the floor and packed the hammer back into my bag. I sighed before reaching through the window to unlock the door. I grinned as a heard the light click of the door unlocking. I pushed the door open, gripping my bag tightly.

The med cabinet stood on the far left of the room surrounded by steel tables with some other medical supplies. I quickly packed the bandages and disinfectant into one of the bags. I set the bag down and grabbed my hammer, breaking the glass on the med cabinet. Instead of sticking my hand in through the broken glass, I used the back of the hammer to wipe the glass away. Then I went to work stuffing bottles, vials, needles, and anything else I thought we would need.

With the bags filled with medical supplies, I headed back towards the others. I pray that no one noticed that I went missing, I don't want to get in trouble for taking things that are only going to go to waste.

Moving quickly down the dark hallway to the stairway, I tried to keep myself from stumbling under the weight of the packs. I'm not a naturally clumsy person, but trying to carry heavy bags up a flight of stairs in the dark can make someone clumsy.

I take a deep breath and push open the door that led to my group. I stuck my head out of the door, trying to see if anyone was coming. The hallway was clear, so I headed towards my room. I dropped the bags off and walked down towards the rec room, where I thought my sister and Carl were playing.

Noticing that the light was still on and the door was open, I walked right in. A loud gasp fell out of my mouth at the sight before me, Shane had Lori pushed up against the foosball table. His hand was up her shirt and hers were clawing at his neck. They looked like they were really going at it.

"Oh my god." I whispered, trying not to draw attention to myself. I use the word trying, because it didn't work. They heard me and jumped a part. Shane looked angry and Lori looked worried, "I'm sorry."

I turned around and ran out the door. I could hear Shane curse and start after me. I didn't look back, because I know he'd be right behind me.

I slid across the floor, trying to round the corner that led to the rooms. I gasped as I felt him grab onto the back of my shirt.

He grabbed me up and drug me into an empty room. He tossed me onto the floor.

"What did you see?" He hissed.

I just looked up at him and replied, "I saw you making out with Carl's mother. Rick's Wife. Your best friend's wife."

He growled, like some type of predator, "you didn't see anything."

I rolled my eyes, "I told you what I saw, I'm not going to lie and tell you that I didn't see anything."

He grabbed my hair and pulled me off the ground, "You aren't going to say anything to anyone."

I winced, "I wasn't going to say anything, you fucking psycho. I've known for months that you were banging her, but that was before Rick came back from the dead,"

He threw me back onto the ground, "Don't you dare say anything. I will kill you, if you even hint at it." After that, he got up and walked out of the room.

I stood up and mumbled, "Asshole."

 **A/N HEY THERE, HI THERE, HO THERE!**

 **I am so sorry that it took me so long to write this chapter and for it being so short. I was dealing with taking Chemistry, Biology, and Capstone(End of college career class) all at one time. And I had to prepare for graduation and applying to a four-year school. Yeah I know, but I only graduated with an associates degree. I'm studying to be a counsellor for abuse victims and victims of sexual assault, and I need a master's degree.**

 **I want to thank the people that have favorited and followed this story.**

 **I'd also like to thank and witchpiper for commenting and wanting me to continue this story. You are awesome.**

 **I will try and update soon, but I don't know when because I have to find a new job.**

 **LOVE LOADS 3**

 **G-V Princess**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

… _Previously on Time To Grow Up…_

… _Cara's POV…_

 _He grabbed my hair and pulled me off the ground, "You aren't going to say anything to anyone."_

 _I winced, "I wasn't going to say anything, you fucking psycho. I've known for months that you were banging her, but that was before Rick came back from the dead,"_

 _He threw me back onto the ground, "Don't you dare say anything. I will kill you, if you even hint at it." After that, he got up and walked out of the room._

 _I stood up and mumbled, "Asshole."_

…Now on Time To Grow Up…

…Cara's POV…

"Asshole." I grumbled, as I moved back towards my shared room. I pushed the door open slowly, trying not to wake Carl up.

"I'm not asleep." Carl's said, groggily. He turned to face me, the blanket wrapped around his small frame.

I sighed, stepping to the room and shutting the door, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

He let out a chuckle, "You didn't wake me up, Care. I hadn't fallen asleep yet, I was actually waiting for you to come back."

I blushed and sat on the side of the bed, "Really?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I wanted to make sure that you got back alright."

I slid under the covers, "Thank you."

With his eyes closed, he said, "For what?"

I turned away from him, "For caring about my safety."

He chuckled lightly, "Any time, Cara."

"Night, Carl." I yawned.

"Night, Cara." He yawned.

With that, we both fell into a restless sleep.

… _Dream…_

… _Cara's POV…_

 _Everything was normal._

 _It was like walkers hadn't actually taken over the world._

 _I am 18 now._

 _I've grown into a beautiful woman with dreams and goals._

 _I have a loving family._

 _And caring friends;_

 _I am happy._

 _The one thing that I don't have is an amazing boyfriend._

 _Sophia, my sister, got that one._

 _His name is Carl Grimes._

 _He has the most beautiful blue eyes_

 _and brown curly hair._

 _He is so funny and sweet._

 _He loves comic books_

 _and wants to be a cop,_

 _just like his father._

 _He is everything that a girl could ever want,_

 _And that girl just so happens to be my little twin sister._

 _She had to watch the love of her life_

 _love her sister._

 _It broke her._

 _And it broke her so bad,_

 _that love was no longer in her vocabulary._

… _End of CARA's Dream/POV…_

… _Carl's dream/POV…_

 _They had been together since the beginning._

 _They started out as friends,_

 _They met when they were only 12 years old,_

 _and the world had ended._

 _She was a few months older than him_

 _and she had a twin sister._

 _She had long curly hair,_

 _it was a dark shade of brown._

 _She was the complete opposite of her twin sister,_

 _who was blond and had blue eyes._

 _Now at 16,_

 _he had gained enough courage to ask her_

 _to go on watch with him._

 _Luck was on his side,_

 _because she said yes._

 _They talked and laughed._

 _Then she grabbed his hand._

 _Then she turned his head towards her,_

 _leaning into kiss him._

… _End of Carl's Dream/POV…_

… the next morning…

…Cara's POV…

I woke up to someone sitting on me. I groaned and tried to push the unknown individual off of me, "Get off of me." I grunted.

A girly giggle filled the room, "Wake up, Cara! It is time for breakfast. T-dog is fixing up some powdered eggs. I know that it sounds gross, but T said that he will do them good." I cracked my eyes and saw my sister.

I sat up and glared at her, "Next time you want to wake me up, gentle shake me. Don't ever sit on me again." I looked at the other side of the bed and noticed that Carl was gone.

"He is with the others in the Café. Lori came in and woke him up about twenty minutes ago." Sophia smiled at me, "So, when were you gonna tell me that you had a thing for Carl?"

I gasped and blushed, "I don't like Carl! Boys are gross."

She giggled and nudged me, "You do too! I can see it in your eyes."

I pushed her off the bed and got up, "I do not."

She laid back on the floor and laughed, "You are in denial, sister dearest."

I rolled my eyes, as I pulled out a new pair of jeans and a t-shirt, "I'm not in anything, Sophia. I can't afford to have those feelings. If you haven't noticed, the world has ended and the dead are trying to eat us."

My sister shook her head and picked up my dirty clothes, "You can't stop feelings from growing, no matter if the world has ended or not,"

I rolled my eyes and took my clothes from her, so that I could put them in my bag.

"I bet that you and Carl will get together. Like together, together." The smile on her face got bigger.

I groaned and slipped on my shoes, "Let's get to breakfast. I am hungry."

Sophia just laughed and grabbed my hand.

…Café…

Almost everyone was in the café, when Sophia and I walked in. Mom gestured for use to sit around her. Sophia sat on one side and I sat on the other.

I noticed that there several plates filled with food that we had last night and several filled with new types of food. Mostly toast and powdered eggs. I was just about to scoop some eggs onto my plate, when a dark hand stopped me.

I looked up and saw that it was T-dog, holding a pan filled with fresh eggs, "Here kiddo, these are fresh with a little bit of heat."

I grinned up at him, "How did you know that I liked a little spice?"

He winked at me and nodded towards my mom, "Your mom might have mentioned it."

I looked over at my mom, who was talking to Lori, and smiled softly. "Thanks, T." I said, as he put a bunch on my plate.

"No problem!" He went back to the stove area.

I slowly started to eat my eggs, not knowing how much spice T put in them. There was a hint of paprika and garlic, but nothing to serious. They were actually really good.

As I ate, I watch the present members of the group chat and munch on their food. When my eyes landed on Glenn, I couldn't stop myself from choking on my eggs.

He was groaning softly, with his head on the table. I guess that he had a major hangover from all the alcohol they made him drink last night.

I laughed, "Are you alright, Glenn?"

He looked up and glared at me, "Do I look alright, Cara?"

I giggled more, "No, you look like shit."

My mom gasped, "Watch your language, Cara! That's not nice."

She smacked my arm lightly, "It's the truth."

She sighed, "It might be the truth, but it still isn't a nice thing to say."

I shrugged and went back to my eggs. I ate them in silences, just listening to the chatter going on around me.

I was on my second plate, when Rick came in. That left Shane to be the last person to show up. There is a little part, okay a big part, of me that hoped that he didn't show up. Especially after the events of last night.

I glanced over at Lori, wondering if she had noticed me last night. She was talking with Rick about how she is always right. I couldn't help but scoff at that. She is rarely right. She has been right about one thing and that happen to be the fact that Rick was going to have a hangover from drinking too much last night.

She said something that got the rest of the group laughing. That laughter was cut short by Shane walking into the room. He quickly glanced at me before taking the seat next to Glenn, across from Rick and Lori.

Rick was the first one, other than me and Lori, to notice the three claw marked on his neck, "Hey, brother. What happened to your neck?" Rick pointed to them.

Shane reached up and touched his neck, "I must've done it in my sleep."

Rick shrugged, "I've never seen you do that before, man."

Shane looked away from him, "Weird."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Really weird." I whispered.

Shane shot me a look that said _'shut-the-hell-up.'_

I rolled my eyes at him again and went back to my eggs.

I tried to tune everyone out, not really being in the mood to interact with them. They were just chatting about plans and other things that didn't spark my attention.

But then something changed.

A loud alarm went off.

Everyone looked around at each other.

" _What the hell is that noise?"_

 **~A/N~**

 **Hey!**

 **I am back. I know that it has been a long time, since I updated this story or my other story. I've just been really busy with school and looking for work. Good News. I got into the one University that I applied too. I am super excited! I start in the Fall and I will be starting the Psychology program. Bad news. Still haven't found a job, but I might be getting an interview at the hospital that my mom works at. I had a death in the family last week. I saw some people that I hadn't seen in a long time. Oh! And I talked to the man that gave me life, then had no part of my life. THEN he tried to come back into my life and tell me who I wasn't allowed to date/marry. Sorry, he just upsets me so much. And today, my grandma had surgery to remove her breast because of breast cancer. Indifferent news. I started online dating. And I was into it for about two weeks before two messages made me want to be single forever. I did meet one guy that SEEMED like a good guy. I put so much emphasis on the word seemed, because the guy turned out to be a looney tune.**

 **Have any of you tried online dating? If yes, what were your experiences like? Good? Bad? Let me know!**

 **Silverfoxkurama: I think that Lori will confront her when they get to the highway. But I am not sure. I will think about it.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **G-V Princess!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 _~Past~_

 _Shane shot me a look that said 'shut-the-hell-up.'_

 _I rolled my eyes at him again and went back to my eggs._

 _I tried to tune everyone out, not really being in the mood to interact with them. They were just chatting about plans and other things that didn't spark my attention._

 _But then something changed._

 _A loud alarm went off._

 _Everyone looked around at each other._

" _What the hell is that noise?"_

~Present~

"What the hell is that noise?" Daryl asks, throwing down his fork.

We all looked at each other than at Dr. Lonely. He sat down his fork and wiped his mouth. He sat there with his hands in front of him. Shane stood up quickly and grabbed the back of his collar, "What the fuck was that noise?"

Silence. Shane growled and drug Dr. Weirdo out of the café, the others followed after him. I stayed back, knowing that something was going to happen. I ran to the offices that we were staying in and checked each room, packing this up for when we leave. I moved everything to the hallways for easy retrieval. When I made it to mine and Carl's room, I packed my things first then his things. I was counting the supplies that I had stolen, when the lights went out.

I groaned and pulled out my flashlight from my backpack. I flicked on and continued to pack everything up.

I was just finishing up with Carl and I's things, I heard yelling coming from the hallway. I poked my head out and saw that it was the rest of the group. I saw my mom and sister looking around, probably looking for me. I stepped out of my room and called out to my family.

"I am right here!" My mom and sister turned around, looking at me. They ran over to me and pulled me into a hug.

"We were so worried." My mom caressed my head.

I hugged them back, "I'm fine, mom. What is going on?"

Sophia was the first to pull away, "The place is gonna blow up. We need to get out." I nod.

"Luckily, I went around and packed as much as I could. I need to grab my bags from mine and Carl's room." My mother nodded and released me.

I walked back into my room, seeing Carl trying to pick up one of my bags, "Stop. I got it." Carl looked at me and glared a little bit.

"You know, I can do more than carry light bag." He lifted the bag, and almost fell backwards.

I laughed and took it away from him, "I know you can, Carl. There are medical supplies in that bag, very important medical supplies." I set it down and handed him a lighter bag, "here, this one has some blankets in it. They are important, but light." He took the bag and grabbed his other bags.

"Move out!" Rick yelled, ushering everyone down the hallway to the stairwell. We ran up the stairs, though I was struggling. Glenn saw me start to fall behind and grabbed the medical bag. I sighed and picked up the pace. We got to the entrance, noticing that the gate was still down.

Rick turned to everyone, "We need to break the glass. That is the only way to get out of here." Shane, Daryl, and T-dog went at the glass with their weapons. I looked around and noticed that Jac, Dale, and Andrea weren't with us.

I looked up at my mom, "Where are Jac, Dale, and Andrea?"

She glanced down at me before returning her gaze to Rick, "They stayed behind." I gasped, as she went up to Rick, "Rick, I might have something that will help."

Shane chuckled darkly, "A nail file ain't gonna help, _Carol._ "

She glared at him, "I found this," She held out a grenade, "your first night at camp. It was in one of your pockets."

Rick smiled at my mom, "You are genius," He took the grenade from her, "Okay everyone get back." Everyone moved behind a pillar as he pulled the pin. He sucked in a deep breath and chucked the grenade across the room. We watched as it hit the window and exploded. Everyone picked up the things that they sat down and ran towards the window. The older guys went first, to help the others out of the broken window.

We ran towards the cars, trying to not drop anything as we went. I followed Daryl and Glenn, both of which were headed toward Daryl's truck. We tossed our things into the back of the truck and ducked down. Daryl looked over the hood as saw something that made him stand up, which made Rick and Shane stand up.

Everyone looked up, only to see Dale and Andrea climbing out of the broken window. I looked over at Rick, who was looking at his watch. His eyes widened, "GET DOWN!" Dale and Andrea ducked behind some sand bags. Everyone else dove behind the cars. Glenn tried to shield me from the blast but it was too late and I was thrown back.

Once everything calmed down a bit, every one noticed Walkers coming towards. "WALKERS!" T-dog yelled. Everyone, but me, rushed towards the cars.

I groaned, "Guys! I can't get up." I yelled, trying to sit up. I hissed, pain began to radiate through my side.

"Shit," Daryl whispered, racing over to me. He picked me up, making me wrap my arms around his neck. I watched Glenn take down a Walker as Daryl laid me down in the passenger side of his truck.

Once Daryl was safe inside his truck, Glenn ran back to the RV. He shot us one last look, before slamming the closed behind. With everyone safe in a vehicle, we drove off. I reached up and grabbed my seat belt, making sure I was safe.

Daryl shot me a look, "You alright?"

I nod, sucking in a breath, "I think so. My ribs hurt, might have broken one or two."

' _Daryl, is my baby alright.'_ My mom's voice came through the walkie.

He shook his head and grabbed the walkie, "Hey, Cara might have broken a rib or two. Her word not mine."

' _Oh, my!'_ I groaned and grabbed the walkie from him.

"I am fine, mother. I've been hurt worse."

Another sob came through the walkie, which made Daryl groan.

" _That didn't do any good, girl."_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Past

' _Daryl, is my baby alright.' My mom's voice came through the walkie._

 _He shook his head and grabbed the walkie, "Hey, Cara might have broken a rib or two. Her word not mine."_

' _Oh, my!' I groaned and grabbed the walkie from him._

" _I am fine, mother. I've been hurt worse."_

 _Another sob came through the walkie, which made Daryl groan._

" _That didn't do any good, girl."_

Present

Daryl groaned and looked over at me, "That didn't do any good, girl. Now, your momma is upset."

I shrugged and looked out the window, following the trees with my eyes, "She asked how I was. And I told her the truth. I have had worse at the hands of her husband."

Daryl grunted, "He was your father." I shook my head and reached into the bag at my feet, pulling out a copy HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN that I stole from the CDC.

Cracking it open, I replied, "He stopped being my father the moment he put his hands on me." As I dove into the book, I could feel Daryl's eyes trying to burn a hole into my skull. I ignored him, trying to focus on the words on the page.

We drove in silence for a while, well as silent as his giant rust bucket and Dale's RV would let us. I was just beginning the seventh chapter, when Daryl slowed to a stop behind Rick's car. Daryl hit my leg, signaling for me to get out of the truck. I closed the book and slipped it back into my bag. I pulled out my knife as I got out of the truck, waiting for something to pop out at me. I followed Daryl to where the others had come together. My eye immediately locked with Carl's, causing both of us to look away and blush. I heard a little chuckle from the left of me. I glance over and see Glenn smiling at me.

I shot him a glare before turning to look at Rick, who was in the middle of the group. He had one leg cocked out and his hands on his hips. "We are running low on gas and we are almost out of food." I sighed and stepped forward.

"We have more food than you think," Everyone looked at me funny, "I may have raided the CDC kitchen and some of the offices, while everyone was relaxing."

All of the adults looked at me, I think trying to decide if I had done something wrong, "Cara, why?" Shane asks, stepping towards me.

I glared at him, "Unlike you guys, I didn't think that the CDC was going to last. So, I did the smart thing and searched for usable supplies. I found loads of medical supplies and other small weapons. I also snuck into the café and took the unperishable foods." I put my knife away and rested my hands on my hips.

Shane stepped up to me, "You shouldn't have done that." He growled at me, which set Daryl off.

"Back off, asshole. That girl did somethin' smart. She used her gut and got us supplies. You should be thankin' her." Daryl stood in front of me, pushing Shane back. Shane glared at Daryl and pushed him back.

"Don't put your nasty hands on me, ya dirty redneck!" Shane pushed Daryl again. I pushed on Daryl's back, so that he didn't fall over me.

Daryl shot back up and lunged at Shane, grabbing his shirt, "Ya bastard!" Daryl slugged Shane. I took a step back as Rick and T-dog stepped in to stop the fight.

I stepped over, so that I was standing next to Andrea. I looked up at her and saw her glaring at Dale. I glared at her and 'tripped', so that I would bump into her. "Sorry, I am so clumsy." She turned her glare towards me, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Watch yourself, squirt." She hissed, walking away from me.

I looked at her and said, "Get the stick out of your butt. Amy wouldn't want you acting like a bitch to the man who saved you."

She slowly turned back to look at me, "You don't know anything about her."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "How do you know that, Andrea? Amy and I got along pretty well. I know that she wouldn't want you grieving like this, she'd want you to lean on others."

She shook her head, "You don't know me, Cara. You are just a child."

I looked up at her, "Andrea, I've never been a child. I've always had to protect my little sister from our father, so that she wouldn't be scarred like me. I know what it is like being an older sister. I may be only 12 years old, but I've lived a lifetime in 12 years. I am not trying to demean your relationship with your sister or your pain from losing her. I just know that she wouldn't want you to take your anger out on us, especially on Dale." I took a step towards her, resting a hand on her arm, "I know that I can be a bitch sometimes, but I am here if you want to talk."

She looked at me, giving me a soft smile, "I'll keep that in mind, Cara." I smiled back at her before turning to the rest of the group, "Wait, Cara." I looked back at her, "Thank you."

I nodded, "You're welcome, Andrea." I turned away from her and walked over to Glenn, who was standing next to Dale.

Glenn looked down at me then returned his gaze to Rick, Shane, and Daryl. His arms were crossed over his chest, "I saw your interaction with Andrea."

I didn't look up at him, "I don't know what you are talking about."

He chuckled a little before nudging me with his elbow, "You act like you don't care about people, but what you just did proved that you do."

I leaned into him, "I never said that I didn't like people. I just don't like ignorant people and people that think that they are better than someone else."

He wrapped his arm around me, "Love you too, Cara."

" _I love ya, Glenn."_

 _ **~A/N~**_

 _ **Hey, guys!**_

 _ **I know that I haven't updated in a long time, but I have an excuse! I've been so busy with my classes and work. Well, I was busy with work until I became an on-call hostess/busser for my work. But I digress. This semester has been so crazy. I've met some amazing people. I hope that ya'll have had a great holiday season. I know I have.**_

 _ **I want to thank everyone who has followed this story and me and that has reviewed it! You are so awesome and I hope that you like this chapter. I wanted to show a different side to Cara. I know that I am not going by the show like I did at the beginning, I wanted to add in some of my own plots and things. It will go like the show though in scene placements. I am getting close to when Sophia runs off and I want to know if I should kill her off or if I should keep her around.**_

 _ **Okay, so if you got presents this season, what was your favorite gift? I got some Harry Potter socks and a Harry Potter coloring book. Also, a friend of mine got me some makeup from Sephora. I've never gone into Sephora or ordered any of their makeup online. So, I am happy!**_

 _ **Have a great New Year!**_

 _ **G-V Princess!**_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Past

 _He chuckled a little before nudging me with his elbow, "You act like you don't care about people, but what you just did proved that you do."_

 _I leaned into him, "I never said that I didn't like people. I just don't like ignorant people and people that think that they are better than someone else."_

 _He wrapped his arm around me, "Love you too, Cara."_

" _I love ya, Glenn."_

Present

"I love ya, Glenn." I say, elbowing him in the side.

He chuckled, and pushed me towards my mom and Lori, "Go talk to your mom."

I put my hips on my hips, "Is that an order?" Sass very evident in my voice.

"Yes." He pushed me again.

I stuck my tongue out at him and walked over to my mom. She was talking quietly with Lori about something that I couldn't hear. They went quietly as I, awkwardly, walked up to them. My mom, being the emotional woman she is, pulled me into a tight hug.

I coughed, trying to get some air in and nonverbally get her to let go of me. Apparently, she didn't get it, because Lori spoke up, "Carol, honey, I don't think she can breathe."

She freaked out, releasing me from her hug, "I'm sorry, Cara."

I nodded simply, "It is alright, mom."

She bent down a little bit, "Are you okay? Do you feel alright?"

I rested my hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down, "I am fine. I'm just a little banged up."

My mom frowned a little bit, "Daryl said that you had mentioned something about broken ribs."

Sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, "I don't think that they are actually broken, maybe cracked but not broken. And it was from the explosion. It doesn't hurt to bad, I promise. Ed had done more damage than the blast."

She cried out, pulling me into another hug, "I still want to check them out. Just to make sure there aren't any broken ribs."

I shook my head, "I am fine. I promise."

She was gonna try and fight me on that, but Rick cut in, "Alright, guys. Since we are running low on gas, Daryl is going to leave behind his truck and ride ahead of us on his motorcycle. And Shane is leaving behind his Jeep to ride in my vehicle," I glanced over at Daryl, "We are going to take the Highway to Fort Benning." I sighed and walked away from the group gathering.

I grabbed my bag from the front of the truck and some of the others from the bed, moving to store them in the RV. I had to set one of the bags down so that I could open the door. I sat the ones in my hands on the floor of the RV and grabbed the one from outside of it.

I snuck the bags under Dale's bed in the back of the RV, trying to make room for the other bags plus me. As I stepped out of the RV, Daryl stalked passed me, grabbing the collar of my shirt as he went.

"I want ya to ride in the RV, away from Shane," He grumbled, grabbing the rest of the bags out of the bed of his truck. I watched as he looked glumly at his rusty truck.

I grabbed his wrist, "Daryl, I'm sorry that you have to leave behind your truck. I know that it means a lot to you."

He glared a little before letting it fall, "I don't know what you are talking about, Cara."

I shook my head and followed him to the RV. I held the door open for him, pointing to the back of the RV where I put the other bags. He dropped them on the bed, letting me put them with the others. We stood there for a second, before Rick popped his head into the RV.

"We are about to head out." Rick said, looking directly at Daryl. Daryl nodded, patting my head and followed Rick. I sat on the bed and slide the other bags under the bed. I did leave my personal bag out, so that I could have something to do on this long drive. I leaned against the wall of the RV and pulled out the Harry Potter book I was reading in Daryl's truck.

Andrea, T-dog, Glenn, and Dale climbed into the RV. Dale and Glenn moved towards the front, getting ready to follow Rick and Daryl. Andrea sat down at the little couch, while T sat at the table. The RV roared to life as I turned the page and I moved around to get comfortable.

~2 Hours Later~

I was almost to the part where Harry and Hermione fly in on the hippogriff to save Sirius from the getting the Kiss, when the RV pulled to a loud holt. I closed the book and set it aside, locking eyes with T. He shook his head and got up as well. As I walked closer, I got a glimpse of the situation outside. I noticed that there were hundreds of cars blocking our way. I let T and Andrea get out before me, so that I could walk out with Glenn and Dale. I kept a tight grip on my knife, preparing myself for any kind of situation.

Just like the last time we stopped, Rick had us come together to talk. No one really said anything, so Dale jumped in, "I knew that duct tape wasn't gonna last. I needed the pump from that cube van."

I look over at Glenn, a little confused. "The RV broke down. It is one of the reasons we stopped." I nodded in understanding. I guess all of my focus was on the book I was reading to notice the weird noise that RV had been making.

Rick shot Dale a sharp look, "If we can't find a water pump that can fit the RV, I am sure we can find some much need supplies."

The rest of the group nodded in agreement, well most of the group. My mom and Lori looked a little stand offish about the whole thing. I shook my head and took my knife out, getting ready to check some cars.

Shane stepped forward a little, "Alright, split up and search these cars."

Rick nodded at what he said, "Stay in yelling distance. Be alert."

Everyone nodded at him, going off to search the cars. I watched as my sister and Carl ran up to our mothers, looking eager to help. Lori made them stay within eyesight.

Not bothering asking for permission to search, I walked off towards the cars T and Daryl were getting gas out of. I waved at Daryl, signaling that I was going to be searching a minivan next to them. Daryl gave me a sharp nod, tapping his knife. I roll my eyes and raised it up, giving it a nice shake. He smirked and turned away from me.

I peeked into the window of the minivan, making sure that it was free of dead bodies and walkers. After making sure it was clear from multiple angles, I pulled the side door open and climbed in. There were several duffle bags with tiny droplets of blood on them. I gulped slowly pulled the zipper down, opening it. I opened it up completely, noticing that it was filled with teenage sized clothing. Sighing softly, I searched through it looking for anything other than clothes.

As I worked my way to the bottom, my fingers brushed against something that felt like paper. Letting curiosity get the best of me, I wrapped my fingers around it and tugged it out. It was a couple comic books. Superhero ones too. I blushed, thinking that Carl might like them. I stuffed them back in the bag, setting the bag off to the side. Ignoring the growing knots in my stomach, I climbed into the back of the van. One second I was reaching for a fat duffle bag, and the next Daryl slams the door of the minivan shut. I went to shot him a glare, but I was cut off by his panicked eyes. He motioned me to get down and be quiet. I frowned, wondering what he was going on about. I was going to ask, but a walker came out from behind a car. Daryl stabbed it in the head, pulling it on top of him. He hid next to another pile of dead bodies.

I looked around and noticed loads of walkers moving around the cars near us. I panicked as some got close the minivan I was in. I laid down and covered myself with a blanket that was laying on top of some random bag. I held my breath, trying not to move or make any noise. Closing my eyes, I tried to recite the Harry Potter book I had been reading. I got to the point where Harry was telling his friends about blowing up his aunt, when the minivan door slid open.

I jumped up and held out my knife, focusing my eyes. Daryl popped his head in, "Careful, girl. The coast is clear, you can get out."

Completely forgetting the bags, I climbed out of the car as fast as I could.

The knots in my stomach were still there, which means something was still going to happen.

Something did happen because as soon as I had myself situated, I heard my mom scream,

" _Sophia!"_

 **~A/N~**

 **Hey, guys!**

 **I updated again! Yeah! I know I cut off before things got good, but I did that because I don't what I wanted to with Sophia. I don't know if I should kill her or keep her alive. I think I might kill her, because it could help with Cara's growth… And because every time I write a scene with her and Carl together, I can feel Cara's jealously radiating through my computer screen.**

 **Guest: I was kind of thinking about doing that, but making it like she was kind of free. She has spent most of her life protecting her sister from the pains of the world.**

 **Don 77: As I was saying above, I think that I will kill Sophia off to set Cara free. But I am not completely sure. I have a lot thinking to do with the next few chapters.**

 **Big thanks to MagicBrownie (love it!), ladybug213, and anyone that I may have missed for favoriting and following this story! You guys are awesome!**

 **Love ya!**

 **G-V Princess**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Cara's POV

I couldn't move or talk as Daryl carried me towards the rest of the group. It was as if my mother screaming for my sister through me into a trance. It was like I was in a coma, but I was awake. I knew what was going on around, I just couldn't communicate with them.

My eyes flickered as Glenn rushed towards Daryl and I. Panic was evident on his face, as he spoke, "What the hell happened to her?" His gentle nervous voice was replaced with a worried and demanding one.

Daryl scoffed, glaring at Glenn. "Don't gotta glue. We heard Carol scream for Sophia and Cara clasped. It was some weird shit."

Glenn glared back at him, "Let's put her in the RV." Glenn led Daryl to the RV, but was stopped by Andrea and Dale pulling out a dead body.

They dumped the walker on the road and turned to face us. Dale was the first of the duo to notice my condition. He hurried forward. "What is wrong with her? Was she bitten?"

Daryl growled, cradling me to his chest. "Do ya think I'da be holdin' her this close, if she'd been beaten? She fell into some type of shock, after Sophia." I groaned, banging my head against his chest.

He tightened his grip on me and asked Dale, if it was safe enough to take me into the RV. He nodded, saying that only one walker got in and to watch out for the blood. I closed my eyes as Daryl carried me into the RV. I didn't want to look at the blood, because it made me think about Sophia and what could happen to her.

Daryl laid me down gently, softly brushing my dark hair out of my face. The worry lines in his forehead were very prominent, which made my heart race. He sat down on the edge of the mattress, gripping my hand.

"Rick is gonna find her, kid. Ya'll get ya twin back. I promise." His voice was raspy and broken. I could see tears forming in the corner of his eyes. Unknowingly, tears feel down my reddening cheeks. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, surprising both of us.

He stood up quickly and left the RV. I was alone with only my thoughts to keep me company. It felt like an eternity before the screen door opened and heavy footsteps made their way to my bed side. I looked up and noticed Rick's guilty face standing above me.

He squatted down next to me and said, "I lost her." A sob echoed through my tiny chest.

He started to panic. Raising his hands to try to stop the tears, Rick whispered, "I found her, but there were too many walkers. I had to hide her, so that I could take them out. When I went to get her, she wasn't there. Something must've scared her, because she wasn't there. We are gonna go looking for her, Cara. And we are gonna find her."

Tears started to fall from both eyes, causing him to squeeze my hand. He used his free hand to brush my hair back, trying to comfort me. He jumped as the RV door got thrown open and someone rushed in. He sighed and turned to face me again.

"I'm sorry, Cara." He said, softly. He got up and, like Daryl, left the RV. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see whoever was walking up to me. The footsteps were soft and slow.

The person grabbed my hand and sat down on the bed. I noticed that hand was small and soft. _Carl_. He didn't say anything, all he did was sit there and hold my hand. Noticing my body shaking, Carl laid down next to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He held me, letting me cry. The RV was silent, minus the sound of my choking sobs. Carl laid his down on my shoulder, burying his nose in my neck.

With soft authority, Carl mumbled, "I gonna find her, Cara. I am gonna save her."

 _ **~A/N**_

 _ **Hey!**_

 _ **I know this chapter is super short, but I was having a hard time writing. It's been like a month or so, since I updated and I feel a little guilty. I've been wanting to update but I've been so busy with classes that I haven't been able to write much. I'm taking six classes and they all require projects, presentations, and papers. I feel like I am slowly losing my mind.**_

 _ **Cara is in a semi-comatose state, because something is wrong with Sophia. I wanted to make them share amount, sort of, without Cara going after her. Did you like the last scene with Carl? What do you think will happen? Will Cara get back to normal before Carl gets shot or after? Feedback, please!**_

 _ **Review, darlings!**_

 _ **Thanks to all the people who followed and favorited this story! You are awesome! Thanks for the reviews, Guest and Don 77.**_

 _ **G-V Princess!**_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Cara's POV

" _I gonna find her, Cara. I am gonna save her."_ Carl's words played over in my head as I lay on the bed in the RV. It had been three hours and I still hadn't moved, it's not like I wanted to lay there while the rest of the group searched for my sister. I want to be the one leading the search for my sister, but my body wouldn't allow me.

Carl had left right after he promised to find my sister, to make sure she was safe. His parents allowed him to stay out and search more cars, while they planned to search for my sister. I could hear them from my spot on the bed.

My mom was complaining, saying that it was Rick's fault for leaving my sister out there and how he should be out there searching for her. I wanted to yell at her, heck I wanted to talk, and tell her that it wasn't Rick's fault. I wanted to tell her that it was her fault for not allowing my sister to be taught how to protect herself.

" _If you had just stayed with her-"_ My mom started again, repeating herself for the third time. I could picture her flinging her arms around and her face going from pale to red.

Daryl scoffed. " _I said that it was too dark. It would be like hunting blindfolded._ "

" _Daryl is right. We would be at a disadvantage against any Walkers."_ Dale said, agreeing with Daryl for the first time since the Jim situation.

" _She is my little girl!"_ Silence. A tear fell down my cheek, as her words cut my flesh.

" _If ya hadn't noticed, woman, ya have another kid. And she is layin' the RV too broken to move."_ Daryl growled. I could hear the glare in his deep voice. I wanted to cry out for him, but nothing would come out.

" _She doesn't need me."_ My 'mom' said. I say 'mom' like that, because she isn't acting like my mother. She is acting like that bitchy lady from down the street back in our old neighborhood.

" _Ha! That's bullshit. That girl needs someone and it should be ya."_ That was the last thing Daryl said to my 'mom' before storming into the RV.

He was sitting down next to me, a scowl semi-permanently etched on his face. His calloused hand slid into mine, trying to comfort me. He squeezed it. "Cara, ya know I care about ya and ya know how hard that is for me to admit. I know ya heard what ya momma said and I need ya to know that she doesn't matter. Ya are strong and independent. Ya can survive this world, but to do that ya gotta get up. Ya gotta wake up."

I focused on moving, on getting up from my spot. A sigh escaped my chapping lips, which shocked Daryl.

He gripped my hand a little tighter. "Ya can do it, Cara. I know ya can do it."

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to sit up. My body started to shake as I pushed my body off of the mattress. Daryl wrapped his arm around me, trying to give me support. I grunted as I leaned forward, panting a little bit from using all of my strength to break out of my paralyzed state.

I leaned to the side, laying my head against Daryl's chest. "Ya did it, Cara," he whispered.

I nodded against him. "I did it," I whispered, sighing.

We sat there for a few moments, just embracing the silence. It wasn't until the RV door opened and Glenn walked in, that I pulled away from Daryl. I locked eyes with him. Glenn gasped, a large smile spreading across his face. He slowly walked over to the bed, trying to control his joy.

"You're up," he whispered, pulling me into a hug.

I chuckled, wrapping my arms around him. "Yeah, I am."

He leaned back and smiled down at me. "You scared the shit out of me."

I smirked and looked over at Daryl. "I think I scared the shit out of a few people."

Daryl scowled. "Language."

I snorted. "Your language is worse than mine, Daryl."

He pushed me over, causing the bed to jiggle. I laughed, rolling onto my back. "Don't ya use that tone with me, missy."

Glenn started laughing with me. "I'm sorry Daryl, but I think that you are the one that taught her that tone."

Daryl tried to scowl, but he couldn't keep his face straight. "Whatever."

I sat back up and pushed the blanket off my legs. "Now that I am up, I can go search for my sister."

Glenn raised his hands up to stop me. "Don't ya think that you should be taking it easy? I mean, you just 'woke' up." He did air quotes around woke.

I shrugged. "I can't just sit here anymore, Glenn. I have to go look for her. She doesn't know how to defend herself. What if more walkers attack her, or worse people?"

He furrowed his brows. "Why are you more worried about people than walkers?"

I sighed. "With walkers, you know what they want. They want food," I ran a hand through my hair. "With people, it is different. You never know what kind of crazy shit is going through their head. You don't know, if they are good people or bad. You don't know, if they will take care of her or kill her."

Daryl and Glenn shared a look then looked at me. "You sure think of all of the possibilities," Glenn said, standing up from the bed.

I nodded, getting off the bed. "When it comes to my sister and our shared past, I do. I don't want her to go through more than she has too alone. We are twins, we aren't one without the other. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Daryl wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we head towards the door of the RV. "You'd survive, Care. She'd want you to survive."

A tear slide down my cheek. "I want her to survive."

 **~A/N**

 **Hey!**

 **It has been awhile since I updated, but that is because of school and all of the shit I have to do for that. The semester is coming to an end, so hopefully I will be able to update more in the summer. But I have no clue. I did get a new positon at my job that will be keeping me busy, but I will work on chapters when I can.**

 **How did you like this chapter? I know Daryl was a little out of character, but that is because I want him to have kind of father/daughter relationship with Cara.**

 **I wanna thank everyone who has liked/followed/favorited/commented on this story, y'all are wonderful!**

 **Have a great weekend!**

 **G-V Princess.**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Cara's POV

" _I want her to survive."_ I whispered, a tear falling down my cheek.

Daryl didn't say anything, he just tightened his hold on me. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my head into his musky leather vest. His rough hand cradled the back of my head as I sobbed. If someone who didn't know Daryl at all, they'd probably think that he was trying to smother me or do something unspeakable to me. He has been the closest thing to a father I've ever had. I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to him.

We stood there for a little while longer before we broke a part. Glenn stared at us, shifting awkwardly. I shook my head and looked around the group. Almost the whole was gearing up to search for my sister, while Dale and T-Dog stood with their backs against the RV. I shot them a small smile, before turning to walk over to Rick.

I tapped his arm, causing him to turn to face me. "I want to help." He raised his eyebrows.

He rested his hands on his hips. "Do you think you'll be up to it?"

I nod once. "Yes."

He sighed and looked over at my mother, who was crying into Lori's shoulder. "Alright. Here." He handed me a long knife. "Be careful. Stay with either Glenn or Daryl."

"Okay." I nodded swiftly, turning on my heels to stand next to Glenn.

He looked down at me, not saying anything. We both watch Rick, Shane, and Daryl explain what was going to happen while we were out. My eyes hardened as I noticed Shane's eye flicker towards Lori as Rick started off towards the forest. I rolled my eyes and gripped the hilt of my knife. I looked around as Glenn helped me over the railing.

I nodded a thank you towards him, not bothering to look directly at him. I moved slowly down the slight incline, trying not to fall on my ass. Everyone flocked around my mother, trying to keep her in the middle. Lori walked with her, trying her hardest to be silently supportive and comforting. My gaze moved towards Andrea, who was glaring at the weapon in her hand. I assume that she is pissed that it wasn't a gun. My gaze was torn from her to Rick, Daryl, and Shane because they were all glaring at the ground, probably trying to follow Sophia's tracks.

 _Cough._ I jumped to the side and held out my knife, about ready to stab something. I turned and saw Carl walking next to me. He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry. A bug flew into my mouth." My face was frozen for a second before a smile popped up. I chuckled a little.

"It is alright. I was just worried that you were someone about to attack me." He looked at me and shook his head.

"Why would someone cough before they attack you?" He asks, stepping over a fallen tree branch.

I shrugged. "They probably just needed to cough. Or like you, a bug probably flew into their mouth."

He chuckled teasingly bumping into me. "HAHA." He laughed sarcastically.

I giggled some more, bumping into him. I smiled at him and ducked under a low hanging branch. Carl followed after me, reaching out and grabbing my free hand. I blushed and looked away from him. He laced our fingers together and swung our arms back and forth as we followed the group.

We were silent, just like the rest of the group. Well, most of the group. Andrea was complaining about not having her gun and having to walk in the woods. I glared at the back of her head, mentally shaving her head and throwing her precious gun in a river or some other body of water.

I let go of Carl's hand and stalked towards her. I grabbed her arm and forced her to look at me. The whole group stopped and looked at us, curious as to what was about to go down.

I glared up at her. "You need to stop complaining, Andrea. We aren't out here to make your life hell. We are out here to look for my sister, if you don't wanna be here then go back to Dale and T-Dog."

She knocked my hand away. "Don't talk down to me, _little_ girl."

I pushed her, knocking her weapon out of her hand. "Act like an adult then _Andrea._ I'm only 13 and I act more like an adult than you do. It is the end of the world Andrea, you are gonna need to stop being self-centered."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You don't know what you are talking about." She turned and picked up her weapon. I glared at the back of her head, wishing that it would explode.

Rick stepped up. "Enough. There is a tent just up ahead, she could be in there."

I nodded, looking away from Andrea. I moved so that I was walking ahead of the group. I wanted to be the first one to see my sister. Daryl moved so that he was walking next to me. I could feel his eyes burning holes into the side of my head. I shook my head, not wanting to talk about what just happened between Andrea and me. I just didn't want to talk about _her._

I squinted, noticing the one-person tent surround by fallen trees and leaves. I slowed down and held out my knife, not wanting to be surprised by a walker… Or god forbid, a walker version of my sister.

Rick turned to my mom. "You should call out to her, just so she knows that it is us."

My mom nodded, moving to stand next to me. "Sophia? Sophia, it is mommy and Cara. Sophia." She called Sophia's name a couple more times, before looking back at Daryl and Rick. Rick gave Daryl a look, causing Daryl to look at me. I nodded, looking away from the tent as he moved towards the tent.

He held his crossbow with one hand and unzipped the tent with the empty hand. He stuck his head into the tent, obviously my sister wasn't in there because when he exited the tent he was holding a shotgun.

"Just a dude, who did what Jenner said. He opted out."

I let out a sigh of relief, glad that my sister wasn't in there.

Rick opened his mouth, moving to say something but was cut off by church bells.

 _Ring. Ring._

 **~A/N~**

 **Hey, friends.**

 **I know I haven't written in a while and I am so sorry. I just haven't been able to write. My depression has been really bad and I've been working a lot. I've finally gotten some inspiration and free time. Hopefully, I still have some fans for this story. I don't really know what to say, but I got to say thank you for being patient with me. PLEASE REVIEW. I love you guys.**

 **G-V Princess**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Cara's POV

 _Ding… Dung… Ding… Dung…_

I glance at Daryl, air getting caught in my lungs. I nearly drop my knife as I take off towards the ringing. Rick and Daryl followed me, leaving the others to follow them. I pushed my way through some trees. I stopped, shocked to see a little white church surrounded by headstones.

Daryl stopped next to me, letting Rick move ahead of us. He had his gun at the ready, wanting to be prepared for the worst. I stepped away from Daryl as the rest of the group broke through the trees. I noticed that Shane was the first one to step up to Rick's side, while my mother stayed beside Lori's.

Shane turned towards Rick. "Are we sure this is the place? There is no steeple." Rick glared at him, shooting a look towards my mother.

"This has to be it." Daryl said, resting a hand on my shoulder. "There ain't any other buildings in the area."

Glenn stepped up. "Maybe she is inside afraid to come out."

"She likes to hide when she is scared." I said, my voice cracked. "She'd hide under her bed on the nights that Ed would sneak into our room. I taught her that, to protect her."

The men looked at each other and nodded. "Everyone in formation. Daryl, Shane, Glenn, and I will be in front. Everyone else, be at the ready." Rick ordered, turning away from us. He marched ahead, allowing everyone to fall into place.

Being rebellious and protective, I stepped up next to Daryl. I ignored his glare and raised my knife. Rick held up his gun, grabbing ahold of the door handle. He counted to three and slammed the doors open. We rushed in, only to freeze in the doorway. Sitting in the pews like they were waiting for service to start, sat five walkers. Alerted by the noise of the doors slamming against the wall, the walkers slowly turned around to face us.

I growled, suddenly pissed off at my sister. I jumped into action, pushing passed the men. A decaying middle-aged woman lunged at me, causing me to jump to the side, I grabbed ahold of her hair and slammed my knife into the back of her skull. Once she stopped fight, I yanked my knife out and went after another one. By that time, the others had jumped into action.

I ignored Daryl's warning to stand back and went after a male walker that was twice my size. I jumped on to the pew and launched myself at the staggering man. I jammed my knife into his eye, causing him to fall forwards. I screamed as he landed on top of me, making me slam into the pew.

"Cara!" I heard Glenn and Daryl yell.

I groan, pain exploding through my head. "I am okay!" I yell, as I feel the body being lifted off me.

Daryl snorted, grabbing my hand. "Bullshit. Come on, let's get you outside." He lifted me off the ground and led me outside.

I groaned again as the sun blinded me. Daryl chuckled, leading me to a concrete bench. He helped me sit down and pulled out a water bottle from his pack. He uncapped it and held it out to me. I looked at it, then him, and took it.

I took a sip, giving him a thank you nod.

"You wanna talk?" He asks, taking the seat next to me.

I shook my head. "Nope." I handed him the bottle, feeling a little better.

He looked away from me. "Good. Didn't want to talk anyways." I laughed softly. He grinned. "There is the Cara I know."

I sighed. "I've always been Cara."

He shook his head. "Not back there. You were like baby Rambo with the way you jumped at the walker."

I didn't say anything.

He nudged me. "I get it. I was like that in Atlanta after we didn't find Merle. Don't know if he is dead or not, just like Sophia."

"Not helping Daryl." I mumbled.

"Just some food for thought. I am gonna go grab your knife and check in with the group, you gonna be okay?"

I nodded, staring down at my bloody hands. He patted my shoulder and headed back towards to the group. I listened as his footsteps faded, leaving me in silence.

' _Sophia, where are you? Why couldn't you just listen to Rick and stay where you were? You aren't making my job any easier, I promised to protect you. You are supposed to be here for me to protect, not running around in the wild with walkers.'_ I thought. I closed my eyes, willing myself not to cry.

I sat alone for another five or ten minutes, before I felt someone sit down next to me. I look up and see Carl staring back at me. He smiles softly, resting his hand on mine.

My heart skipped a beat. "My dad, Shane, and I are going to continue to look for Sophia, while the others head back. Do you wanna come with us?" He asks.

"Really? You want me to go?" I ask, my voice low and soft.

He nodded. "Yeah. She is your sister. I think she'd feel safer, if you were with us when we find her."

I smile softly at him. "Thank you."

His grin got bigger as he nudged my shoulder. "Come on! I'll race ya!" He got up and took off.

I gasp, following his lead. "Cheater!"

He laughed, making it back to the group before me. "Just getting ahead start, not cheating."

I tackle him to the ground, laughing. "You are such a cheater."

He beamed up at me. I froze, butterflies attacking my stomach. "You're just a sore loser."

I gasped. "Oh really?" He nodded, smiling. I smirked and started to tickle him.

He squealed, which caused the group to look at us. "Sto-op!" He laughed.

I laughed, wiggling my fingers under his armpits. "Never!"

The adults let us play for a minute, until Shane stepped out of the church and ruined everything. "STOP! This is not the time for childish behavior. You are gonna attract every walker in five-mile radius." He glared at us.

Rick stepped in, raising his hands. "Stop, Shane. They're kids, so let them be kids."

Shane turned his glare towards Rick. "They could get us killed. They can't be kids anymore."

I got off Carl, anger blazing in my eyes. Putting my left hand on my hip, I used my right to point at him. "Shut up, Shane. Your angry outbursts are going to get us killed, because you like to act like you are in charge. You make bad choices and decisions, you don't get to tell us what to do."

Shane's face twisted in hanger, becoming redder and redder with every passing second. "You little bitch. I am tired of your shit." He raised his hand to hit me. I don't waiver, not even to blink.

Daryl stepped in and decked Shane. Shane stumbled back, grabbing his face with his right hand. "You stay away from her, jackass."

Rick steeped in. "Enough. We have a little girl to find. Shane, Carl, and I are going to continue the search. Everyone else head back to the highway."

Carl stepped up. "Dad, I asked Cara to come with us. I think that Sophia would feel better, if Cara was with us when we find her."

Rick sighed, closing his eyes and nodded his head. "I agree, Carl." Carl beamed up at his dad. "Carl, Cara, Shane, and I are continuing for a little while longer then turn back."

Shane protested. "Rick-"

"Shane. I said she could." Rick hugged Lori and whispered something in her ear. She pulled away as he held out a gun.

I turned towards Daryl and Glenn, who are both looking at me. "I have too."

They nodded. Daryl stepped forward first, holding out my knife. He smiled at me, but never said anything. Glenn stepped up as Daryl stepped back. He pulled me into his arms and whispered in my ear, "Be safe. Shane is losing his mind."

I nodded, backing away from him. "I know. I don't know how long he is going to be able to hide his true colors."

Glenn patted my shoulder and smirked at me. "So, you and Carl huh?" He winked.

I blushed. "Shut up." I turned away from him and Daryl. As I walked over to Carl, I can hear them laughing their butts off. I roll my eyes, flipping them off behind my back. Their laughter got louder, which caused Shane to glare at them. Glenn started coughing to cover up his laughter, which caused me to snicker.

I tucked my knife into my belt. Carl smiled at me as I walked towards him. Rick grabbed Shane by the shoulder to pull him away from Glenn and Daryl. Carl and I walked in front of Rick and Shane, chatting quietly amongst each other.

I moved under some trees, looking for animal and human tracks. I frowned, hoping my sister came through this area. Carl was watching over my shoulder, breathing down my neck. I stopped and turned around. "Carl?"

He looked at me, curiosity and wonder on his face. "Yeah?"

I blushed. "Is there a reason why you are breathing down my neck?"

He blinked, blush covering his freckled cheeks. "I wanted to watch you track, so that I could learn."

I sighed and continued forward. "After we find Sophia, I will teach you both everything Daryl has taught me about tracking."

Carl smiled. "Really?" I nodded. "Awesome!"

I laughed and continued walking. Carl and I walked in silence, trying to enjoy nature while looking for my sister. Rick and Shane muttered to each together, not wanting us to overhear them. I rolled my eyes, ignoring Shane's glares. After a ten-minute walk, Carl and I walked into a beautiful open field. I smiled as a butterfly flew around my head. Carl grabbed my hand and pointed off to the other side. I turned around and gasped. There, ten-feet away, stood a beautiful deer. I glanced over at Carl, noticing the look of aww and wonder in his eyes.

"It is so beautiful." He whispered. He slowly walks towards, I follow him.

Shane and Rick watched from in front of the trees. "Be careful, Carl." Rick said, a smile forming on his face.

Carl stopped next to a bush. I walked a few steps ahead of me, not wanting to stop. "Dad, look! It is so beautiful."

' _I wish Sophia could see this.'_ I thought.

Carl reached forward and grabbed my hand.

 _Bang._


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

Third Person POV

 _bang!_

 _Pain radiated through her body as the bullet tore through her soft, scarred flesh. She didn't even have time to register what had happened before a black fog started to consume her vision._

Carl screamed, falling to the ground next to his fallen friend. Blood was seeping out of her stomach and onto the bright summer grass. Tears trailed down his face as he looked up at his father, his eyes begging for help. Rick saw the pain in his son's eyes and ran to his side. Pressing his hands to her wound, Rick spoke calmly to his son.

"Carl, I need you to get me a cloth or something to her wound, something to stop the bleeding." Rick said, his voice soft but fierce. Carl nodded and grabbed her backpack.

 _She screamed out as she felt pressure on her wound. She wanted it stop. She wanted the pain to go away. She wanted the comfort of darkness, but something was nagging her. It was telling her to open her eyes, to keep fighting._

 _Her eyes opened for a second, not locking on a single detail. She didn't know where she was, but she did know that she was moving at a slightly brisk pace. She could hear voices, but not make out what they were saying. She could feel the intensity behind one of the unknown male's voice. He sounded young, like Carl. Was it Carl, telling them to hurry?_

Ottis looked down at the young girl resting in the frantic officer's hands. She couldn't be more than 12 years old and he shot her. _It was an accident, I swear on my wife that it was an accident, Lord._ He thought as he led the small male dominated group back to Hershel's farm.

Shane Welsh ran next to his best friend, hand gripping Carl's. "Where is the damn farm, man?" He yelled, glaring at the heavier man.

Ottis glanced over at the angry man. "It is just a head, I promise." He panted, trying not to get himself killed by the unstable man.

Shane dropped Carl's hand and rounded on Ottis. Shane grabbed his collar, "Listen here, you better not be lying to us. That little girl means somethin' to our group."

Ottis shook his head. "I ain't lyin'. There is a farm with a doctor on it just over that hill, I swear."

Shane threw him backwards. "You best hope so." Shane growled at the frightened man and rushed off.

Rick looked at his friend, silently wondering what was going on with him. Rick didn't think about it for long, because the bleeding girl in his arms cried out in pain.

 _Cara screamed, feeling a harsh tug at the torn flesh of her stomach. She felt her body sink into a soft material._

' _I promise to be a better person, if you allow me to live Lord.' She thought, her unconscious body convulsing caused by massive amount of pain her body was going through at that moment._

 _She wanted to give up, to give into the pain but she knew she couldn't. Her sister needed her, her mother needed her- hell even Daryl needed her._

 _She has to pull through._

'She has to pull through.' Carl thought, holding onto her hand.

~ **A/N**

 **Hey, friends**

 **It has been a long time. like a really long time. I know I am an awful person for not writing more chapters after I said that I would, but I have a valid excuse.**

 **I am taking 16 credit hours and I am working full-ish time at my job.**

 **Plus! I did start seeing someone.**

 **I know that this was a super short chapter, but I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to get you guys a new chapter before my break ended and I have to back to focusing on finals until winter break. I might get a couple of chapters in during winter break, depending if my boyfriend is still working on his Thesis or not.**

 **How are you guys? Anything new in your life? Thank you for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. Please review for another chapter. I really need some motivation.**

 **Love yall!**

 **G-V Princess**


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